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Puppets on a String

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JohnB:
I have returned to the Twilight Zone early this week. Almost 3 weeks out & about Beijing, Shenyang, Dalian,
and of course Fushun.. my wife's family humble home.

I will say a week in Beijing was not enough and everywhere else was too long. Expectations somehow not
met outside the big city. Deflated. Maybe best to save Beijing for the end of a visit. Or, just stay in one
locale and make the best out of it.

Anyway... my observation of cell phone use in China.
When we were married, Jing had made little effort to connect to friends. She just was not that interested.
Her's a cheap phone.. a necessary evil at the bottom of her purse. Last year she bought an I-phone. Things
changed. Computers too cumbersome. I-phone highly mobile of course, and besides, whatever she wants to
know, listen to the news.. it is all available in a few seconds notice. On her very own I- phone. The latest
China craze seems to be exhibited, is a “KTV- like” download which allows anyone to sing. Then posted
on- line. Critiqued by similar like minded Chinese denizens. The success being measured on 'flowers'. I
guess computer flowers. Much better than plastic flowers she tells me.  Anyway, Jing has a beautiful voice.

The thing is, is that this phone is stuck to her hand. What can I do? Nothing! The Chinese go forth like mind
controlled zombies. Kind of comical, but sobering too. Wherever you go in China, this is a phenomenon unlike
anywhere else I have been.

Anyway, I am back in America. In Idaho.. the state with the hugest pickup trucks I have ever witnessed.
A far cry from China's most efficient, modern, & cheap public transportation.

Willy The Londoner:
Glad to hear you had a good time.  Join the club of husbands with wife's who have had a smart phone transplant into one hand.

 I do not expect you noticed much change in the value of the US Dollar against the rmb.  Lucky your not British.

Last year I was getting 9.8 rmb per pound. Today's rate is 8.2 rmb.  That is quite a few thousand rmb down every month.

Willy

JohnB:
Willy, I send my wife's family (as in, son) money each month. Education expenses. Jing told me the other day the US$ is weak. I don't pay much attention to the rmb exchange rate... only to my US$ expenditures! Anyway, I did the calcs.. "my" dollar/ rmb ratio is 4.65% cheaper than a year ago. Less bang for the money I send him.

I had to Google it. Maybe of interest, but the dollar is not just falling against the rmb, it is falling against all the
major currencies. https://internationalbanker.com/brokerage/us-dollar-consistently-falling-throughout-2017/
Things are improving for you. I just checked the exchange rate. The pound buys you 8.9 rmb.

We'll be in China mid- April for our last 'vacation'. I'll probably have to bring a few extra bucks to make the visit doable.

   
 

ChinaBound:
 John

I thought you had your wife here with you in Idaho?
I must have missed something as i do not get on here
very often.

It is pretty much useless here as the forum has fallen
way down from the heyday of 5 years ago.

JohnB:
Ted, Jing's American experiment failed. She is 100% Chinese. No change.
I'll go to China with her, with "minimalist" possessions & my American passport
in the hip pocket.   

Still Stateside for a few more months. I'll be done with work soon, so no more
demands. 

This site is a ghost of what it once was. There is a few of us trying to ignite a
flame here. Maybe the few, the new, the adventurous can add to the equation.
I think the joke thread is funny. That 'mod' must be a f*cking clown! Nothing
better to do than post funny shit.

Hope all is well with you.
 

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