Sunday, March 29, 2015

An American in Paris part 5

I'm going to Paris on Tuesday. Everything is set. We have the visas and a place to stay. Instead of a hotel out in the middle of nowhere, we will be staying at an apartment on the Île Saint-Louis right in the middle of the city. According to the maps, this apartment is close to a lot of the big sights, including the Louvre, the Latin Quarter and Luxembourg Garden. And it is right next to Notre Dame and the Bastille. I have no idea what the apartment is like, but it seems to be a great location.

That's a pretty good deal as far as I'm concerned, but there is some icing on this cake. Instead of getting packed into the plane like cattle, we will be flying business class. This is essentially a business trip, so that makes sense.

Since moving to Hong Kong, I have flown to a few places. One of the benefits of living in a place like Hong Kong is the easy accessibility to East Asia. I have been lucky enough to fly from Hong Kong to Shanghai, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Tokyo, Bali and probably somewhere else. Each of those flights was much shorter from Hong Kong than it would have been from home. And every one of them was in economy class.

If you are flying from Hong Kong to Fuzhou, it can't possibly matter. But Hong Kong to Paris is a pretty long day. Flying to Rome was not my favorite experience in the world. Rome is great, but that is one long trip in last class. Business class makes all the difference in the world. It is an overnight flight, so it might be nice to actually get some sleep on the plane and not arrive as tired as Donald O'Connor after making us laugh.

When I come back, I'm sure I will have something to say about it.

À la prochaine les blogueurs.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

An American in Paris part 4

This Paris trip will definitely interfere with my micro trips to Fuzhou. Ryan does not mind. He recognizes that the Paris trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We almost went to Paris when we went to Rome, so he knows how much I want to go. Getting paid to go there is even better, as far as he is concerned.

Of course, this means we will not see each other for a month. Even longer when you include time before and after the trip. He can't exactly come out to visit me while I'm there, so we have to go back to talking on Skype and the phone instead of seeing each in person. We have done that before, so I'm sure we will survive. Ryan's biggest fear, he says, is that I will never want to come back. If I stay in Paris permanently, it would be a lot harder for us to see each other. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen. I like the idea of living in Paris, but I don't like the idea of being homeless there and eating out of garbage cans. My job is in Hong Kong. I doubt anyone is going to offer me a permanent gig in Paris.

Lily is another story. She is not at all used to being away from Kevin. They have never lived in different cities, let alone different countries. It will be harder for her to stay celibate for a month than it will for me. Kevin worries that she will find some charming French guy who sweeps her off her feet. I think that is about as likely as Ryan's fear that I will stay in Paris. Lily and Kevin have been together for a very long time. It will take more than some stud with an accent to steal her away. But I suppose a temporary tryst is not out of the question. Maybe if her Paris stud has a friend, I will not have to tell Kevin about it.

That's also a joke, obviously. He would have to have a friend and give me a job in Paris to keep me quiet.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

An American in Paris part 3

Packing for a month long trip is never easy. Lily says we should just buy clothes when we are there. That is not really something my bank account thinks I should consider. I'm sure Paris has plenty of great clothes, but most are probably not compatible with Hong Kong's climate. I'm sure clothes made by a professional French couturier cost a little more than clothes made by children in some Chinese sweatshop somewhere. That's a joke, of course. Most of the clothes here are made in Vietnamese sweatshops.

There is also the issue of language. I studied French in high school, but I'm pretty sure the people of Paris don't sound anything like the old worn out CDs we had in the language lab. If everyone talks with subtitles, I should be ok, but if they talk as fast as they do in movies, I'm screwed.

Lily is from Canada, so she thinks she can speak French. But she is from Winnipeg, not Quebec. There are more Native Americans in Winnipeg than French. More people in Winnipeg speak an Asian language than French. I have been told by a few French people that Canadians are hard to understand when they speak French anyway. It's like when Americans go to England.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

An American in Paris part 2

Going to Paris for a month certainly sounds like a good idea, but I have a job. Fortunately, April is an easy time of the year to get some time off. The big New Year rush is long gone and summer is months away. Ryan and I actually took our first vacation from Hong Kong in April. We did not even want to. They made us take the days off, so we went to Macau. Macau is nothing special and there are plenty of better places to go in China, but I will always remember it as my first Chinese vacation spot.

It also helps that I have been at my job for four years now. That's not really a long time, but it is long around here. Most of the people I work with stay for a year or two. Foreigners are lucky to make it past a full year. Not that they get fired, although some do. The main problem is adapting to the new culture. A lot of people think it will be a great adventure, but too many can't handle how different everything is. If you want to live the life you lived in Canada or Australia, don't come to China. It is not the same.

Monday, March 16, 2015

An American in Paris part 1

Speaking of trips to other countries, I'm going to Paris next month. How that happened is a pretty long story, and I'm sure I will get into it sooner or later, but for now I'm concentrating on what I need to do before I go.

Lily & I are getting paid to go for a month. Since it is for work, we need visas. Even people who work there temporarily need visas. If we were just going as tourists, we could stay there for three months without any kind of visa, but to work, we need temporary work permits. So there's all that paperwork to deal with.

There is also a question of where to live. Housing will be provided for us, but at this point, I don't know where it is or whether we will be staying in a hotel or an apartment. I assume an apartment is cheaper for the month, but I don't really know. I also assume that wherever we stay, it will probably be on the outskirts of the city or in some suburb somewhere. Anything for a month in the heart of Paris has to be expensive. That means it will take longer every time we want to go into town, but I can't complain. I'm getting paid to go to Paris.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

One Day At a Time part 6

I'm going back to Fuzhou on Sunday. I think I'm getting used to these tiny overnight trips. I remember the first time I went to Fuzhou. It was my first trip to Mainland China. Everything about it was new and strange to me. The Fuzhou airport is nothing like Hong Kong Airport, and just walking the streets of Fuzhou feels like you are in a different country. The signs are all in the same language, but the atmosphere is different.

Now it is almost routine. Going to China is like hopping a flight from Minneapolis to Chicago. Almost. I have been to several other Chinese cities, but now I have been to Fuzhou more than the rest of them combined. It is still a strange little city, but it is familiar. If I ever go back to Shanghai, I will probably get that feeling that I'm in some new exotic place. But Fuzhou will never feel exotic again.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

One Day At a Time part 5

Since I have the day off tomorrow, I'm going to Fuzhou again. It is another tiny one night trip, but I knew about it far enough in advance that I was able to book a hotel. Staying at Ryan's house is cheaper, but more crowded.

He likes staying at my apartment whenever he comes to Hong Kong. That is because he gets along with my roommates and has a bit of a crush on Lily. I don't especially like staying at his house whenever I go to Fuzhou. I think his roommates act too much like teenagers. It's not that they are old. They are all pretty much our age and they have all been living there for a while, but they act like they are away from mommy and daddy for the first time.

At a hotel, Ryan and I can have far more privacy than we ever get at his house. I have said it before and I will probably say it a million more times, but privacy is of the utmost importance when you are in a long distance relationship. Lily and Kevin see each other every day. They share a bedroom. They can live in sin like there's no tomorrow. Ryan and I live in different countries, more or less. We have to get on a plane to see each other. After I have gone through all the airport hassles and a hundred Chinese people manhandling my passport, I want to do things with my boyfriend that I can't do with four teenagers listening at the door. In a hotel room, I can go 50 shades of red on his ass.

Monday, March 2, 2015

One Day At a Time part 4

I'm taking another mini trip to Fuzhou tomorrow. The plan is to go more often, but that pesky New Year interfered. Now that it is mostly over, I should be able to go more often.

I will have to stay at Ryan's house again. We did not book a hotel in time. The downside to taking these shorter trips more often is that there is a lot less time to book anything. Plane tickets are pretty easy. Hong Kong Airlines and Dragonair have several flights a day from here to there. Hotels require a little more advanced notice, especially in Fuzhou.