WTF: The Rip-stik AKA the wave board

Hows it hanging Gentle reader dudes. Im gonna lay it down for ya as I once again send big r'spect to the yoof of today.

In the last year I have written about 2 teen trends (Dabbing and Fidget Spinners) and now the latest teen thing seems to be what looks like a 2 wheeled skateboard called a wave board or Rip Stik.

Why is it called a Rip Stik? I do not know. But from watching the kids at CBIS riding them around all the time maybe the riders should be called a "Dip stik".

Today Lena and I were nearly run over by a boy on one of these devices who was also reading a book. Now I'm all for reading but please look where your going when on your rip stik you dip stik.

Basically its a 2 wheeled skateboard and kids move it by moving their legs like they are on a snow board or a surfboard.

The reason I am writing about them is that 3 weeks ago there were none in the school. Now there are 15 at least.

Are they bad? No I dont think they are. But I woild like to see them riden with a bit of care and a bit of consideration for others.

Later dudes

#ripstik #

Neil's Chicken 'n' sausage egg fried Rice

Hello Gentle Readers. Its been a while since I posted a new recipe so here is something tasty to try for yourself.

Ingredients
1 large chicken breast
4 medium precooked sausages
1/4 red onion
2 small chillis
1/2 teaspoon of BBQ seasoning.
2 tbsp olive oil
5 small cups of rice.
3 eggs.

Method
Cook the rice in a rice cooker. Trust me they are amazing. Perfect every time.

Chop the chicken, sausage, onion and chilli. Place them in a deep wok with the olive oil add the seasoning and stir fry until cooked.

Add the rice to the wok and break 3 eggs into the rice and stir well on a low heat. Try to cover every grain of rice with some lovely eggy mixture.

Serve immediately its lovely with some low salt soy sauce.

#recipe #chickenandsausageeggfriedrice

The rule of Law

Hey Gentle readers and welcome to the next chapter of my journey through the Core Socialist values.

The Rule of Law Chinese Dragon

As a kid I enjoyed the comic 2000AD and particularly the exploits of Megacity 1's top cop Judge Dredd.

Dredd was an anti hero, a law enforcer with a difference. He didn't just enforce the law, he was the cop, the judge, the jury and in quite a lot of cases, the executioner.

Molded by a system that was corrupt and in some cases evil, he was the good man doing the bad things his leaders told him to do.

MegaCity 1 is the perfect example of the rule of law.
The definition of rule of law states that all people, politicians and corporations; even governments are bound to follow the laws of a country.
The leaders of Megacity 1 are corrupt however and the Law, they feel, shouldnot apply to them.
In China, there are still a few officials who believe they may be above the law and I am glad to see that President Xi is doing something about it.

Does this make Xi China's Judge Dredd? And if so will he be Judge, Jury and executioner too?

Judge Xi?

#coresocialistvalues #ruleoflaw #judgedredd

Confucius on....Justice

Following on from my post about the rule of law I wanted to look at another one of the Core Socialist Values, Justice. Confucius was a wise man so here are some of his view on justice.

To be wealthy and honored in an unjust society is a disgrace.

Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.

The higher type of man clings to virtue, the lower type of man clings to material comfort. The higher type of man cherishes justice, the lower type of man cherishes the hope of favors to be received.

Justice for All in the World

Heaven gives long life to the just and the intelligent.

Justice is like the north star, which is fixed, and all the rest revolve about it.


#coresocialistvalues #confucius #justice

Visit to Grade 5

Hello Gentle Readers

Today I visited the CBIS grade 5 class to talk about my blog and the future of media in general as part of their IBPYP Unit of Inquiry.

Ms Amy and Ms Lena (Yes, that Ms Lena) had invited me and I was a little bit nervous as it has been a while since I had to talk in front of primary aged children.

I explained what a blog is and explained why I wrote one. (Its all Lena's fault).

I showed them the last post

http://ascotsmaninriga.blogspot.com/2017/11/100-days.html

and the first post

http://ascotsmaninriga.blogspot.com/2015/01/welcome-to-my-blog.html

the most popular post

http://ascotsmaninriga.blogspot.com/2015/03/got-my-bus-passaccused-of-breathing.html

and the posts about CBIS

http://ascotsmaninriga.blogspot.com/2017/10/international-culture-day-at-cbis.html
http://ascotsmaninriga.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-chinese-pioneers.html

I showed them the Statistics and they were very impressed that the blog has been looked at 196,000 times. I was happy about that too. I explained that people all over the world have access to my blog .

We talked about how media has changed since I was their age. (It was the 1970's Gentle Reader) and I gave them the task of thinking about what media will look like when their children are 11.

I thoroughly enjoyed the trip to primary and I hope it wont be the last trip there.

I want to thank Ms Amy and Ms Lena for inviting me and I also want to thank the pupils who were very polite and asked some good questions about the blog.

#cbis #grade5 #media #IBPYP #vpn #china

100 Days

Hello Gentle Readers, Robert asked me this mornng "how long have we been in China?"

I wasn't sure so I looked it up and its been 100 days since we got off the plane. I have posted 64 times since we got here and I will continue to post about the stuff that interests me and hopefully you.

¥100 

Thanks for your support.

#100days #china

From poverty to prosperity

Hello Gentle Readers. In the 7th post about China's Core Socialist Values. I want to look at prosperity.
2017 is a big year for China because it will finally overtake the US as the largest world economy.

That is quite an achievemenr when you consider that within living memory China saw millions suffer from starvation during the Great Leap forward.

Here for you Gentle Reader are some facts about China's growth to prosperity.

1. By 2025, China will have 200 cities with a population of over 1 million people. Because of this the Chinese government is very aware of its peoples quality of life.For example, in Beijing alone, it is spending $1.3 billion on converting petrol taxis to electric.

2. China has 8 Decacorns, companies valued at over $10 billion. These include Ali Baba, Didi, Xiaomi and Tencent. Those 4 companies alone are worth nearly $500 billion....the same as all of Belgium.

3. Online shopping is big business in China. The 11th November is the Chinese equivalent of Black Friday and in 2016 over $17 billion was spent on one day. Not bad for a joke holiday aimed at single people.

Singles Day sales

4. China invests more money on renewable energy than any other country. President Xi cancelled the building of 100 coal fired power stations and opened the worlds largest floating solar power complex in Huainan.

5. The world met its Millenium Goal target of reducing poverty mostly because China accounted for 75% of the reduction between 1990 and 2005. China now has more Middle class people than anywhere else in the world.

#coresocialistvalues #china #prosperity

Freedom

Sveiki Gentle Readers. Yesterday was Latvia's 99th birthday. In 1918, the people of Latvia sent out a clear message that Freedom was important.

The Freedom Monument in Riga is  an emblem to all Latvians that their freedom is as important now as it was 99 years ago.

Please enjoy the video and remember Freedom is one of the Core Socialist Values.

#freedom #latvia #18november #coresocialistvalues

Top 10 Chinese Proverbs about...friendship

Hello again Gentle Reader. China is famous for its proverbs. Confucius wrote a great many of them and even today 2500 years after he died. He is still a powerful force in the Chinese psyche.

The proverbs below are not all from Confucius but they represent how the Chinese feel about friendship.

Friendship is one of the Core Socialist Values.

President's Xi and Trump.

Only when the years grows cold do we see that the pine and cypress are the last to fade; only when we get into trouble do we know who our genuine friends are.

Men of totally different principles can never act together.

Just as a fence has to be built with pegs, an able person needs the help of three others.

Travel a thousand miles to bestow a goose feather— a small gift may be a token of profound friendship.


A bosom friend afar brings distant lands near.

Birds of a feather flock together, people of a mind fall into the same group.

You shall know a person by knowing his friends.

The best mirror is a friend’s eyes.

Old friends and old wine are best.

Gold is easy to get, a close friend is harder to find.

#coresocialistvalues #friendship #china

Equality.....or just a hole in the ground?

Hello Gentle Reader and welcome back to my exploration of China's Core Socialist values.

Today I am going to look at equality. I am a strong believer that everyone is the same and no one, rich or poor, should be treated differently.

It doesn't matter if your the poorest peasent, President Xi or a British expat, eventually you will need to poop.

And Chinese bathrooms if anything make everything and everyone equal.

Yes Gentle Reader, you have spotted the elephant in the room...or is that the hole in the ground or the bucket in the corner.

Lena had seen bathrooms a bit like these in Latvia but for me this was a new experience. When we went out to places that we would not be sure had a western toilet I had to go before we went anywhere.

Also Chinese toilets are BYOTP.

Bring your own Toilet Paper.

If you are wondering the tecnique for using such a toilet is refered to as the Squat, Go, Wipe, Throw.

mmm...Nice

The bucket I mentioned earlier is for putting your used toilet paper. The Chinese sewage system is not the most efficient and the pipes can become easily blocked.

This means that Chinese public bathrooms are easy to find. Just follow the smells.

Because everyone needs to poop, in China, everyone needs to squat.

#coresocialistvalues #equality #toilets #squatgowipethrow

Anyone for Integrity....whoops Tennis

Hello Gentle Readers. Its day 3 of my journey through the Core Socialist values and sometimes I dont have to do much to get inspiration for a post. On the way home today, we stopped to get a parcel and we bumped into our colleagues Gabriel and Siren.

Yuhu tennis courts

They had gone to the office of the company that manages the residential area that we live in, to ask if they could rent one of the tennis courts that are available to residents of the Yuhu community.

The locked tennis court gate.

Now I couldn't quite believe what the response from the Citic staff was.
"No, because the staff use it to dry their laundry."

Gabriel as you can imagine was a little bit taken aback by this as apparently the residents of Yuhu pay for this facility but cant use it because the Citic Property Management staff are using it to dry their underwear.

You can see the washing lines.

He asked to speak to the man in charge but apparently he was too embarrassed to speak to Gabriel about his complaint and left his young inexperienced staff to  deal with it.

Integrity is one of the Core Socialist values. Let me ask you this Gentle Reader. Do you think Citic Property Management demonstrated integrity?

I would love to see your comments.

Thanks to Gabriel and Siren for taking the photographs.

#coresocialistvalues #integrity #tennis #citicpropertymanagement #yuhu

Bank of China....Bank of Civility

Hello there Gentle readers. How are you all doing on this fine day? If there is anything I can do to help you, please be sure to ask in the comments. It would be my pleasure to assist you in any way I can.

I know what you are probably thinking...."WTF has he been smoking?"

But I am being Civil and Civility is one of the Core Socialist values of China. As someone once said "It's nice to be nice."

The reason I decided to write about Civility today is because today, for what seems like the 500th time in 3 months, I was at the bank......actually 2 banks and one of them 3 times. If that seems excessive you should understand that I arrived at the first bank at 8.45 in the morning and finally left there at 12.35 in the afternoon.

Every month Lena and I like to transfer money back to our Latvian bank account. Previously we have been lucky enough to have our Chinese colleagues help us but this time I decided I would go it alone.

The Bank of China is the only bank that allows people to transfer money out of China. Last week I had transfered money from our main bank, NRC Bank, into my BOC account and today I went with my passport, employment contract and tax document to transfer the cash back to Latvia.

I arrived at the bank about 10 minutes before it opened and when it did I was welcomed warmly.
"Good Morning Sir. How can I help?"
Theres the civility right there.
The staff of Bank of China will always be nice and smile and do their best to make you feel welcome.

Unfortunately their civility is not exactly matched by their competence.

I had to convert my Chinese currency to Euros before transfering it to Europe. Believe it or not gentle reader it took over 2 hours just to do that. I had to go to the NRC bank along the street at one point but the Assistant manager of Bank of China came with me and translated so we would be done quicker. See, civility.

When we returned he civilly asked me to sit while he dealt with my request. Then I noticed something strange. 2 people were helping him, then 3, eventually 4 other, all female by the way, members of staff were helping him. Thats what I call service....I am glad the bank wasn't busy.

4 bank workers were needed to convert my currency.

By 11.00 I was getting really fed up but the staff kept smiling and apologising...."computer problem....very sorry"....they kept saying.

At 11.30 I was just about ready to give up but the assistant manager gave me a cheery thumbs up and I thought "Super, Free at last". Can you imagine my disappointment when he said "Currency is converted. now we transfer. Do you have your code card generator?"

I didn't and had to ride my scooter the 5km back home then drive back again to the bank.  When I returned everyone smiled so nicely all I could think was they must be sick of the sight of me. But they smiled (civility) and helped me do the transfer.

Within an hour the money was in my Latvian bank account. Strange to think it took nearly 3 to convert it.

Civility is important....but sometimes civility without competence is just people grinning and apologising for their incompetence.

The Bank of China staff were friendly and civil. True exponents of the Core Socialist Values and they should be praised for that.
Sometimes though however I prefer efficiency and competence.

#civility #coresocialistvalues #bankofchina

Wednesday Thought: Patriotism

Hello Gentle Readers. After my post about the Core Socialist values, I wanted to write a post about each of them.

Here are what some great people said about patriotism.

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Mark Twain

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Thomas Jefferson


A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Patriotism is not an abstract concept. It begins from one's own home. It buds out from the love for one's parents, spouses and children, the love for one's own home, village and workplace, and further develops into the love for one's country and fellow people.

Kim Jong-un

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Samuel Johnson

When a nation is filled with strife, then do patriots flourish.

Lao Tzu

#patriotism #laotzu #samueljohnson #kimjon-un #napoleon #marktwain #thomasjefferson

China: The Core Socialist Values

Hello there Gentle Readers. As you may be aware China is a very different place than it used to be. This can be best understood through the introduction 5 years ago of what President Xi Jinping called the Core Socialist values.

These 12 values were introduced as a way of strengthening the Communist Party of China through promoting new"Official" intepretations of Chinese socialism.

The 12 values were also seen as a way to stop what many people saw as a degrading of people's morals due to the rapid economic growth that China had undergone in the first few years of the 21st century.

The 12 values have been split into 3 categories.


The National Values are:
Prosperity, Democracy, Civility and Harmony.

The Social Values are: Freedom, Equality, Justice and  the Rule of Law.

The Individual Values are: Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity and Friendship.

President Xi hopes that China, which has become stronger economically will become stronger morally through the whole population embracing these ideals.

Over the next few weeks, I will look at these values individually and discuss my views with you.

#coresocialistvalues #china #xijinping

Today in History: 12th November

Hello Gentle Readers lets play the records of time backwards as we hurtle down the Helter-Skelter of History.

1927: Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Communist party of Russia leaving Stalin as undisputed leader of the Soviet Union.

1929: Actress Grace Kelly the future Princess Grace of Monaco is born.

1934: Cult leader and mass murderer Charles Manson is born.

1980: Voyager 1 makes its closest approach to Saturn and phitographs the planets rings.

1990: Tim Berners-Lee publishes his outline for what will become the World Wide Web.

#trotsky #helterskelter #thebeatles #charlesmanson #gracekelly #voyager #saturn #timbernerslee #todayinhistory #november12

Lāčplēsis Day

Today Gentle Reader is Lāčplēsis Day in Latvia.  It is a Day of Remembrance to those Latvians who gave their lives to earn Latvian independence.

Latvians light candles on Lāčplēsis Day

It is named after the Mythological Latvian hero Lāčplēsis which means "Bear Slayer".

Lāčplēsis from the Riga Freedom Monument.

#lacplesisday #latvia

Top 10.....stupidist Trump Tweets

Hello Gentle Readers, just over a year ago The Donald was elected to the Presidency of the USA. Shocking and scary as that was, his Twitterverse musings are even more scary. FDR has his fireside chats as he called them. Trump has his 3am tweet.

In my humble opinion I strongly believe that this POTUS should hire someone to edit his tweets. Using social media to share policy is one thing, but using it to attack people, their beliefs or values surely breaks Twitter's misuse policy.

Anyway folks here for you are my personal favourites from his anthology of stupidity.

 So when men and women get together...rape is expected.

 Those illegal voters...huh go figure.

 Global warming is a hoax.

Methinks the Donald does protest too much.

 Fake news.

 Racist?

The Golden Raspberry winner attacks the 'over rated' Oscar winner.

 Build a wall.

 I'm so clever.

Phony....

If you are a Twitter user Gentle Reader, I suggest that you follow the Donald so when you see Tweets like these you can get him kicked off.

#donaldtrump #twitter #dumpthetrump