Friday, June 27, 2008

Of course it's good for you, it's all-natural.

Mark and I were in the big city today after a setback involving the wrong business scope printed on some of the certifications we got from the government.

On the way out, we picked up some medicine for Mark's cousin, and while I was waiting, I was absent-mindedly reading the labels of some vitamins behind the counter when something caught my eye. As my eyes wandered down the row, here's what I read, all of the pill bottles looking exactly the same and carrying about 100 pills each:

Calcium & Vitamin D
Vitamin C & Vitamin E
Jean & beautiful
Sheep Placenta
Compound Vitamin
Amino Acid
Galcium + VD

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Red Park Cafe?

Well, last Thursday we got our business license! A huge step. After we actually pull the money to a Chinese bank account at the Foreign Investment Bureau and get our official stamps made, I'll be ready to come home for a couple of weeks for my brother's wedding--which I'm wayyy excited about.


Things have been busy the past few months. I worked hard to find a commercial space and work out a lease, spent some time in a different city helping some friends, have been sorting through the process of getting all the documents necessary to start the business as well as dealing with all the government bureaus involved. I've been making a lot of trips to the big city, staying with my friend there. And it's been good, though I haven't had near enough time or energy to maintain the relationships I have in my own city.


And, well--lately, I've been feeling a little off. I think I've been too busy to really deal with everything going on now. I think that I need more time to reflect and re-sort through everything. Not only are there some big changes coming up not only in my day-to-day but also the level of responsibility I have, but before and after trips home there always tends to be a lot of soul-searching. Such is the nature of having an interesting relationship with the concept of 'home.'

I hope that you've all been doing well! And I'm including some pictures of the space that we're renting.


The potential name is Red Park Cafe. One difficult thing for me has been finding names that sound good in both English and Chinese (the Chinese is obviously more important, which is the one that I'm clueless on). But, regardless, suggestions are welcome (and needed!), so I can run them by some friends.