Sushu's Sketchblog

Here is the first one, along with the accompanying commentary that I had posted at the time. I sketched them in about an hour or so, on a half sheet of paper, so they're rather crude. To compensate a bit, I've employed the Fill Bucket. I was traveling with a friend and her boyfriend.



The flight from San Francisco was delayed 4 hours because the plane that left Dusseldorf was delayed. The reason it was delayed was that they encountered a technical issue shortly after leaving Dusseldorf, had to re-land, and fix. Although the delay has been frustrating for everyone involved -- the pilot, the passengers on 2 planes, all the missed connections and the ticketing agents who had to deal with grouchy people and pay the cost of hotel, etc -- I'm still glad they made sure the plane was safe instead of having people die. Sure, I miss a day of Moscow, but at least I'm not dead. Germany is also not a bad place to be stuck -- sure, I have no Euros, so I'm kinda stuck at the airport hotel, operating within the confines of the hotel vouchers, but most people speak English very well, and everything is organized, courteous, and functional. I turned on the TV and flipped through a lot of dubbed American shows, and ended up on some German family comedy, perhaps like 7th Heaven. I wish I understood German humor -- serious one moment, silly antics the next. The show seemed to be about a priest and his family, and has dramatic moments around buying fishing bait in a shop, and not being able to sleep at night because the neighbors were having loud sex.

Dusseldorf airport is really weird. The airport lobby was like a real lobby -- with clusters of armchairs and cafes and stores. It is spacious and airy, more like a train station than an airport. The dominant airline here is Air Berlin. Many screens tell you which counters to check in. I like how fluid the space is. From there I go a few short paces to customs, or "PassKontroll", which is a different world altogether. The space is winding and cramped, with many cordoned off areas. The area seems more like a "behind-the-scenes" warehouse area, with unadorned walls that have parts unpainted. There is no air conditioning. From their I enter the gate area, and once again everything is air-conditioned, bright and airy. I felt like I was in a shopping mall -- stores and shops line the hallway, duty-free perfume assaulting my senses -- with the gates nowhere to be found. The gates turned out to be tucked behind the stores, as if up a side alley. At the gate, everything is once again coarse and functional, two gates in one small area, with a door beyond leading to stairs down to the tarmac, and with just enough seating for the early-arrivers like me. No outlets to be found, and on one column, a clear un-painted outline of something that used to be there but was ripped out.

There are no drinking fountains here -- maybe it's not required by law? Travels abroad always makes me think about federal regulations.

Here are some signs that I found online:

With gems like "Welcome the World Expo: Be a 7-Treasure Person"

I love the invocation to "Deal in Civility, Cultivate New Airs" without any specificity. But in case you want some specifics:


1. Don't swear or say rude words
2. Don't litter
3. Don't smoke or drink
4. Don't destroy public property
5. Don't spit as it suits you
6. Don't cross the street chaotically
7. Don't carve or write on walls
8. Don't destroy greenery
9. Don't be wasteful
10. Don't participate in unhealthy social activities

Here is a picture of the side of a building with lots of signs. I think it was a school, but more importantly, it was a GARDEN UNIT.


As usual, post comments here: http://sushux.net/chinacomic/?p=224

As the asterisk says on the comic, the first example story is a composite. There *is* a guy who has emailed and called me to ask about colleges and stuff, who I don't remember at all. I think he was one of 7 or 8 people that I had dinner with, once. I don't know how he got my email. He spelled my name wrong and also called me "sis". Um, yeah. The last panel, however, comes from a few years ago, when there was a guy who asked my mom if she could talk to someone to get his cousin into a U.S. school. It's one of those things like, "Well, if America worked that way, I'd be happy to help, but it doesn't, so no." I kind of feel bad in these circumstances, because if the roles were reversed, the other side would definitely help. It's just that connections occupy about 20% of "getting things done" here, whereas it's about 80% there.

The second story, however, is 100% true. The girl eventually stopped watching her Chinese soap to quote me a price and take a picture for me. Then she printed it at the wrong size. When I told her I needed it passport sized, she didn't believe me, and so she went on chat and asked a friend, who told her the size. She had to confirm 3 times with her friend before she adjusted the size for me. Then she only printed half of what I ordered because it would have cost her too much to print the right amount. I used to be frustrated by the callousness of cashiers, waitresses, etc. Then I realized that it was because I didn't have any connection to them, so really, why should they be nice?

On the other hand, I've experienced great service when going somewhere local with my uncle -- people know him, and so give him good deals and give us good service. I always feel like not enough of China is professional, which is perhaps because friendships, family, and connections matter so much more. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing -- am I willing to give up the close camaraderie and sketchiness in exchange for measurable and monetized professional standards? Perhaps it's not an either-or. Taxi drivers are very professional, especially in Beijing, but at the same time they keep the feeling of camaraderie through banter.

As usual, comments turned off here. Go to http://sushux.net/chinacomic/?p=216 to comment.

So I wasn't as impressed by Guolichen as my friends and colleagues at the Fengtai Softball Field, but I was quite impressed by the many uses and meanings of this bottled orange soda that extended beyond simply "a drink". It helped me better understand the guanxi system (connections culture).

I drew this on the flight back from Illinois, and it came rather easily, because I'd drawn a proto version of this comic on a dining table paper back in October, 2008. You can see that it still has many similar elements:

The power band is in reference to the 5 Olympics-colored power bands that we had to wear on each wrist that were specific to Olympics volunteers. People soon started trading them for other items. This comic is, I think, the first with the Olympics. My 2008 volunteer experience was very educational for me, and so there may be a few more coming down the line.

You may have noticed that these last few comics have small narrative bits. I feel like I've gotten to a degree of comfort in portraying my China experiences that I can start doing that. I hope you don't find it too disconcerting as I move away from "telling" and towards "showing".

By the way, Minute Maid is 美汁源 in Chinese ("Beautiful Juice Source"). Here's a picture of Guolichen:


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So I wrote this about a month ago, and had all but 1 row of panels finished, but then didn't work on it for about a month, during which school ended and I went to Illinois for a summer institute.

This is one of those cases where there is some exaggeration -- for one, I always sit shotgun when going somewhere in the family van. Also, my parents know of other types of non-Chinese food, such as KFC hotwings and Vietnamese spring rolls.

Finally, I actually had to do a little research for this one, since I'd never eaten at a Pizza Hut in China because it's too pricey for me. But apparently it's the go-to place for western food (including pasta and a one-stop salad bar) at western prices.



The result of only letting people go to the salad bar once:


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I've since learned not to pack tank tops, regardless of how hot and muggy it is in Shanghai in the summer. :) The other incidents referenced in this comic: being told to bring formal wear "that you would wear to a formal dinner". I went out a bought a proper dress and fancy sandals, only to go there and find out that we were supposed to wear "business" casual. There were looks of shock at my asking if we needed socks. Then I had to give a speech in my dress. We were a group of 20 Chinese-Americans and 20 Chinese, and it was quite striking that all of the American ladies wore formal dresses. The other incident was during the Beijing Olympics. Those were some of the other overseas Chinese girls and guys that I was hanging with. It's kind of funny that a half-naked old guy can admonish you for wearing too little because you're in flip-flops and a tank top.

To be fair, the socks thing made sense -- Chinese streets are sort of grimy, with various air-conditioner drippings and other stuff, so you don't want to expose your toes to that stuff.

My major challenge to fitting in with the Chinese youth fashion is that everyone is supposed to be tiny and skinny. This is why I end up wearing 40-year-old "mom" styles. That and I don't like 15,000 sparkles and misspelled English words.

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So I decided to try to create something every day for the next month. Here goes.

Tonight I was at the regional Mock Trial tournament, so I made a little 8-page mini-book (basically 1 page folded in eighths) about the Mock Trial proceedings. Drawn with ball-point pen, lots of scribbles. Basically, our side are all girls, and their side was all boys, so it's pretty easy to tell. There's witnesses and attorneys for both sides.



(Original page spread out here)

One of my favorite things about living in Shanghai -- that I can go downstairs and there's so much to do. But also that there are all these secret worlds just through a doorway.

Example:
Residential Community: (note the plastic exercise equipment!)


Street: (note the rear of the residential buildings)



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Tried something new -- drew complete outline, then used paint bucket, then added 1 shading layer. Mostly to play with color, because if you haven't noticed, I'm kind of sucky at coloring.

All of these are actual conversations I've had about race when talking with friends.