Finally, a break.
The last couple of weeks have been a bit tedious--dreadfully cold weather, rain, gloom. The weather mixed with the students anger that I am making them write a final paper on a book that they have read this semester *they have NEVER written a paper before*, it is time to take a little bit of a break before having to lock myself in my apartment for two weeks and grade 6-9page essays.
One solid week of nothing but warm, sandy beaches and relaxation await me in Hainan. I will be leaving for the Hainan area next wednesday afternoon.
Hainan is recently very famous for its recent hosting of the Miss World finals, which are held in Sanya, in the southern end of the island. Hainan has similar weather to Hawaii--hence why it is known as Chinese Hawaiian Island.
A week in Hainan, followed by two weeks in Chenzhou grading term papers, followed by a month long vacation.
I will start the journey in Hong Kong or Guangzhou for my birthday, followed by Chinese New Year, followed by three weeks in Thailand. All of this will cost less than $430 USD.
So, I miss Christmas, but I will be on the beach until just before Christmas eve. :)
Read more!
10 December 2005
Tea Crazed
Over the past several weeks, as my body begins to realize how vile and bad booze really is, I have discovered the true beauty of tea.
I must confess, that if anything, tea is in my blood. My father, being English, was a constant drinker of it until he had this realization that anything that was somewhat stimulating in life was bad for him. At once, for health reasons, he gave up all booze and caffeine and meat. He know leads a life sin free, except for sweets. If you want something from Dad, come bearing chocolate. It helps his menstral cycle I guess.
Giving up tea was the hardest for him, but the doctor said that it had to go. It just wasn't good for his health.
Well Dad, if you read this, I may have found a cure.
Red Tea.
It is actually black tea, but the processing of it seems to take out the caffeine in the process. The story of the tea is varied, so I am going to give you what I think is the truth, but, like many other things in China, it might be the truth. So, look for corrections on this in a later blog entry.
The story begins with the continuation of the story from the other night. When we went to this tea shop in the walking street, I was quite blown away by the culture of tea. It was my first exposure to the different methodology with the tea than what I was used to: Loose tea that steeps, or sits in hot water for a few minutes, then is poured into a cup and served with cream and sugar for more flavor. I thought that nothing beat a nice pot of PG tips on a Sunday afternoon with a good book, but that has all changed.
The other nights tea experience turned out to be a bit of a fraud. It turns out that the brick of tea that I recieved as a gift the other night turned out to be terrible. So terrible in fact that the tea shop that I went to today called it "fake".
I am still not sure what to think of the gift--if it was meant with the best of intentions or it was meant to show off to the girl that went with us. Regardless, it was a sham. When we opened the package, the tea was moldy and the package was not consistant with the good teas--it was wrapped in plastic. The tea shop owner or boss as they are called here, pointed out that good tea will either have no wrapping and you just buy the brick, or it is wrapped in linen and expensive good tea is boxed in bamboo. A good lesson to know for next time.
I was eager to try the new tea and on Friday morning I had taken the tea with me to a meeting with a fellow teacher, Mrs. Chen, who is a big fan of Guyang tea, which is a decent green tea. She bought me a couple of sample tins that other day to see if I enjoyed it, so I thought I would take this tea to her to show her and get her thoughts. When she saw it, she thought it was expensive tea and invited me to have it looked at by an expert--the boss of the tea shop where I spent all of the afternoon. She suggested to bring the tea with us and she would buy some others to contrast it against.
The tea failed in every catagory.
The tea shop where I went on my pretend date is on the walking street in the town--a nice little place in the heart of where the action is in Chenzhou. It is a nice tea shop and expensive--the first couple of times that we went there they charged us a 12rmb sitting fee, plus the cost of the tea, which I thought was silly. Since I have been there a few times now, they don't bother to charge me anymore.
When I went with the girl and the police officer, who is a regular customer, it was quite an experience because he is well connected. It is because of this that I don't think I will raise the issue with the boss about his bad tea. It is not worth the hassle. The boss, who is from Taiwan, seemed to have a good knowledge of tea and the different experiences--that is, until I met this boss today.
The shop we went to today has only been in operation for a month. The boss and his brother recently relocated from Yunnan, where the majority of this red tea comes from. They had been doing a lot of business in Hunan, trading their tea with the hunan green tea (which is not good) and the Changsha Jasmine tea (which is nice), so they decided that they would open the shop down here. The location is not the best--it is a little off the beaten path, but it is quite a nice little place, but is about 1/6 of the size of the big teahouse in the walking street, but it looks like his business will be centered in the wholesale trade.
My intial response to this place was not positive because of the immediate insults of the tea I brought into his shop. Again, as in other posts, my American suspecion of everything occured.
Tea is difficult to gauge because of the variant in trade prices. The Yunnan tea, which is my personal favorite, ranges from 130rmb a brick to 3500rmb and the taste, just subtle differences. The main difference comes from ageing. Red teas are treated and packed to last a long time. Their flavor retains its strength for many years. The 3500rmb tea is 25 years old and tastes like most of the other teas, except it has a nice smooth finish on it with some hints of walnut. Its quite an experience, but not worth 3 weeks salary.
I decided to give the 130rmb a try. It was a good decision. I am enjoying the first pot of some 80 that I will get out of this brick of tea. In another post, I will explain the process of making the tea--it is very involved, but it is easy if you practice through the afternoon. The key is that you dont steep the leaves--this causes them to become bitter--which is probably why the english had to use the sweetneers and such.
Anyway, I need to get back to grading the outlines my kids have lined up.
To be continued.................... Read more!
I must confess, that if anything, tea is in my blood. My father, being English, was a constant drinker of it until he had this realization that anything that was somewhat stimulating in life was bad for him. At once, for health reasons, he gave up all booze and caffeine and meat. He know leads a life sin free, except for sweets. If you want something from Dad, come bearing chocolate. It helps his menstral cycle I guess.
Giving up tea was the hardest for him, but the doctor said that it had to go. It just wasn't good for his health.
Well Dad, if you read this, I may have found a cure.
Red Tea.
It is actually black tea, but the processing of it seems to take out the caffeine in the process. The story of the tea is varied, so I am going to give you what I think is the truth, but, like many other things in China, it might be the truth. So, look for corrections on this in a later blog entry.
The story begins with the continuation of the story from the other night. When we went to this tea shop in the walking street, I was quite blown away by the culture of tea. It was my first exposure to the different methodology with the tea than what I was used to: Loose tea that steeps, or sits in hot water for a few minutes, then is poured into a cup and served with cream and sugar for more flavor. I thought that nothing beat a nice pot of PG tips on a Sunday afternoon with a good book, but that has all changed.
The other nights tea experience turned out to be a bit of a fraud. It turns out that the brick of tea that I recieved as a gift the other night turned out to be terrible. So terrible in fact that the tea shop that I went to today called it "fake".
I am still not sure what to think of the gift--if it was meant with the best of intentions or it was meant to show off to the girl that went with us. Regardless, it was a sham. When we opened the package, the tea was moldy and the package was not consistant with the good teas--it was wrapped in plastic. The tea shop owner or boss as they are called here, pointed out that good tea will either have no wrapping and you just buy the brick, or it is wrapped in linen and expensive good tea is boxed in bamboo. A good lesson to know for next time.
I was eager to try the new tea and on Friday morning I had taken the tea with me to a meeting with a fellow teacher, Mrs. Chen, who is a big fan of Guyang tea, which is a decent green tea. She bought me a couple of sample tins that other day to see if I enjoyed it, so I thought I would take this tea to her to show her and get her thoughts. When she saw it, she thought it was expensive tea and invited me to have it looked at by an expert--the boss of the tea shop where I spent all of the afternoon. She suggested to bring the tea with us and she would buy some others to contrast it against.
The tea failed in every catagory.
The tea shop where I went on my pretend date is on the walking street in the town--a nice little place in the heart of where the action is in Chenzhou. It is a nice tea shop and expensive--the first couple of times that we went there they charged us a 12rmb sitting fee, plus the cost of the tea, which I thought was silly. Since I have been there a few times now, they don't bother to charge me anymore.
When I went with the girl and the police officer, who is a regular customer, it was quite an experience because he is well connected. It is because of this that I don't think I will raise the issue with the boss about his bad tea. It is not worth the hassle. The boss, who is from Taiwan, seemed to have a good knowledge of tea and the different experiences--that is, until I met this boss today.
The shop we went to today has only been in operation for a month. The boss and his brother recently relocated from Yunnan, where the majority of this red tea comes from. They had been doing a lot of business in Hunan, trading their tea with the hunan green tea (which is not good) and the Changsha Jasmine tea (which is nice), so they decided that they would open the shop down here. The location is not the best--it is a little off the beaten path, but it is quite a nice little place, but is about 1/6 of the size of the big teahouse in the walking street, but it looks like his business will be centered in the wholesale trade.
My intial response to this place was not positive because of the immediate insults of the tea I brought into his shop. Again, as in other posts, my American suspecion of everything occured.
Tea is difficult to gauge because of the variant in trade prices. The Yunnan tea, which is my personal favorite, ranges from 130rmb a brick to 3500rmb and the taste, just subtle differences. The main difference comes from ageing. Red teas are treated and packed to last a long time. Their flavor retains its strength for many years. The 3500rmb tea is 25 years old and tastes like most of the other teas, except it has a nice smooth finish on it with some hints of walnut. Its quite an experience, but not worth 3 weeks salary.
I decided to give the 130rmb a try. It was a good decision. I am enjoying the first pot of some 80 that I will get out of this brick of tea. In another post, I will explain the process of making the tea--it is very involved, but it is easy if you practice through the afternoon. The key is that you dont steep the leaves--this causes them to become bitter--which is probably why the english had to use the sweetneers and such.
Anyway, I need to get back to grading the outlines my kids have lined up.
To be continued.................... Read more!
08 December 2005
Traditional Chinese dating is something that is very heavily guarded. Where I live here in the middle of Mao country, there is not the worry about AIDS or loose women. Sure there are hookers (and cheap hookers at that), but they are well hidden and kept away from the mainstream traffic.
The women who are traditional are guarded heavily. Especially the really good looking ones. I met a really good looking one last weekend. Her name is Lei Hui Zhen and unlike most other Chinese girls, she does not have an English name because she loves her name and wants people to know it.
Now, I am not romantically linked to this girl in anyway. However, a collegue of mine found out that she wanted to take me out to tea and he gave me a fairly stern warning:
"Bad things happen to people that have sex with a Chinese girl without bearing a ring."
Now, to be fair, this guy is from the country and comes from a family of rice farmers. He clearly has not lived in the city long and still thinks all Chinese women but the whores are as fresh as Colorado snow on Christmas morning.
I asked him what he meant by the comment--if he was threatning me.
"No, I am not one to really care, but many others do. Consider this your warning. She is a lovely girl."
I still didn't catch his meaning.
As my good friend Tiny asked me when I relyed the story to him:
"What, does he mean like an honor killing?"
I decided to just not pay any attention to this absurb talk. I am a grown man who generally makes good decisions. I have no intention of sleeping with a traditional Chinese girl--I just can't see the point of hugging for three months before getting a kiss. I don't have that kind of time. I have already crossed the path of immortal sin, thanks all the same.
But, we did go out tonight. She was going to introduce me to her yoga teacher. Easy enough. However, when we went to the gym, I was challenged by someone to a game of ping pong. At first, it was ok. I could tell that the other guy was playing with me, giving me crappy lobs and trying to watch to see how bad I could be. The Chinese take their table tennis very seriously--which is kind of funny because in America you see it more when you are in a friends basement at the age of 12 then at any other time. So, I let him have his fun for a bit and then he decided to give me a good lashing in front of the girl.
He then says he wants to take me out for some tea. The way that he described it in Chinese made it seem a little planned out. The girl agreed and excused herself to go talk to the Yoga person before the three of us head out to have tea.
I like tea and am beginning to really enjoy Chinese teas, so I was looking forward to it. I didn't know what, if anything I would do with the girl, so this seemed to fit nicely. No awkwardness.
Basically, the three of us head to the tea shop and it then becomes very apparent that this guy thinks we are on an actual date! I shake my hands-- No, No. He nods and shows me his badge-- YES! YES!
and smiles. A police escort.
Lovely.
So, an honor killing and a police escort. Odd.
But wait, theres more.
The teahouse had some of the best damn tea I have EVER tasted. Red tea is the best, by far. I found one particular type that I enjoyed the most-- it is 700rmb a KILO!!! Which is close to $90 USD.
Of course, its good for your health.
To make this story a little shorter, we had a good time--and I got my first traditional Chinese tea lesson (Britian does not have anything on Chinese tea culture)
As we were leaving, the policeman, our escort on the date I wasn't on, gives me two bags. One with a brick of the red tea--probably valued at 50 bucks, and the other, the traditional Chinese lucky tea frog set, another 50usd.
As we leave, he has a car outside to take me to the University.
Its moments of pure kindness like these that make me wonder why people aren't always like this. It makes me wonder why we, as rich Americans, would NEVER do something so kind. It makes me think that there is another motive behind his actions. I am always suspect of policeman bearing expensive gifts...
It just amazes me how lovely these people can be.
Then again, this is China.... Read more!
The women who are traditional are guarded heavily. Especially the really good looking ones. I met a really good looking one last weekend. Her name is Lei Hui Zhen and unlike most other Chinese girls, she does not have an English name because she loves her name and wants people to know it.
Now, I am not romantically linked to this girl in anyway. However, a collegue of mine found out that she wanted to take me out to tea and he gave me a fairly stern warning:
"Bad things happen to people that have sex with a Chinese girl without bearing a ring."
Now, to be fair, this guy is from the country and comes from a family of rice farmers. He clearly has not lived in the city long and still thinks all Chinese women but the whores are as fresh as Colorado snow on Christmas morning.
I asked him what he meant by the comment--if he was threatning me.
"No, I am not one to really care, but many others do. Consider this your warning. She is a lovely girl."
I still didn't catch his meaning.
As my good friend Tiny asked me when I relyed the story to him:
"What, does he mean like an honor killing?"
I decided to just not pay any attention to this absurb talk. I am a grown man who generally makes good decisions. I have no intention of sleeping with a traditional Chinese girl--I just can't see the point of hugging for three months before getting a kiss. I don't have that kind of time. I have already crossed the path of immortal sin, thanks all the same.
But, we did go out tonight. She was going to introduce me to her yoga teacher. Easy enough. However, when we went to the gym, I was challenged by someone to a game of ping pong. At first, it was ok. I could tell that the other guy was playing with me, giving me crappy lobs and trying to watch to see how bad I could be. The Chinese take their table tennis very seriously--which is kind of funny because in America you see it more when you are in a friends basement at the age of 12 then at any other time. So, I let him have his fun for a bit and then he decided to give me a good lashing in front of the girl.
He then says he wants to take me out for some tea. The way that he described it in Chinese made it seem a little planned out. The girl agreed and excused herself to go talk to the Yoga person before the three of us head out to have tea.
I like tea and am beginning to really enjoy Chinese teas, so I was looking forward to it. I didn't know what, if anything I would do with the girl, so this seemed to fit nicely. No awkwardness.
Basically, the three of us head to the tea shop and it then becomes very apparent that this guy thinks we are on an actual date! I shake my hands-- No, No. He nods and shows me his badge-- YES! YES!
and smiles. A police escort.
Lovely.
So, an honor killing and a police escort. Odd.
But wait, theres more.
The teahouse had some of the best damn tea I have EVER tasted. Red tea is the best, by far. I found one particular type that I enjoyed the most-- it is 700rmb a KILO!!! Which is close to $90 USD.
Of course, its good for your health.
To make this story a little shorter, we had a good time--and I got my first traditional Chinese tea lesson (Britian does not have anything on Chinese tea culture)
As we were leaving, the policeman, our escort on the date I wasn't on, gives me two bags. One with a brick of the red tea--probably valued at 50 bucks, and the other, the traditional Chinese lucky tea frog set, another 50usd.
As we leave, he has a car outside to take me to the University.
Its moments of pure kindness like these that make me wonder why people aren't always like this. It makes me wonder why we, as rich Americans, would NEVER do something so kind. It makes me think that there is another motive behind his actions. I am always suspect of policeman bearing expensive gifts...
It just amazes me how lovely these people can be.
Then again, this is China.... Read more!
07 December 2005
Part of the frustration that is a constant in china is the lack of finding information. First, there is the language barrier, which is not that bad as long as you try to surround yourself with Chinese people that speak english and understand how difficult it must be.
However, within the culture of the Chinese is a total lack of a clear cut way to do most things. This is the main source of most of my frustrations in China.
For example: I was riding on the bus back to the University with one of my students. Anna is from the North, near Beijing and is much more educated and cultured than most of the other kiddies here at the University. I mention to her that I am interested in going to Hainan for a weekend because the cold weather is getting to me because I do not have enough warm clothes.
She offered to call a friend of hers who is a travel agent in town.
She rings the woman at about 9 at night and she is still working. She asks which way I want to go to Hainan and I say the cheapest possible. She says that there is a train, which takes a long time, but you can fly there for 1000rmb roundtrip from Guangzhou, which is four hours from here. I repeat--no, I want to go the cheapest way possible. She says this to the travel agent and they go back and forth, several times. I sit wondering what they are discussing. A lot of discussing always worries me because it usually means that my friendly translator is making decisions without conference--which never turns out to be what I intend.
"She said that it is just 1000rmb to fly. If you go to guangzhou, stay in guangzhou overnight and catch the train in the morning, it will cost you about 800rmb, so why not fly?"
We go back and forth on different options before I decide to think about it some more. When we arrive back at the school gate, Anna calls a friend of hers from Hainan and asks her what she normally pays to go back home. The woman cannot hear us clearly, so we agree to meet each other in the English department. When we meet, she tells me it depends on which way I want to travel to hainan. I say, again, the cheapest route possible. She says that the cheapest route possible is only available to students.
I gasp.
"Okay, the cheapest route to Hainan for me."
She spends several overly confusing minutes discussing the different transport options available. I laugh to myself at how complex all of this seems to be. There is a bus from Chenzhou, but its slow.
You can take a bus to Guangzhou and take a train to Hainan.
You can take a train to Guangzhou and take a train to Hainan.
You can take a train to Guangzhou and take a bus to Hainan.
or you can fly.
The prices are all varied and she doesn't know how much it is because she is just a student, so she only knows how much the student rate is.
I talk to another friend of mine later in the afternoon who says that there is a direct bus to hainan that leaves here each morning at 10:40am. It arrives in Hainan 7 hours later. The total cost: 150rmb each way.
I will let you know in a couple of days if this is the case.
I must go teach the kiddies now. Read more!
However, within the culture of the Chinese is a total lack of a clear cut way to do most things. This is the main source of most of my frustrations in China.
For example: I was riding on the bus back to the University with one of my students. Anna is from the North, near Beijing and is much more educated and cultured than most of the other kiddies here at the University. I mention to her that I am interested in going to Hainan for a weekend because the cold weather is getting to me because I do not have enough warm clothes.
She offered to call a friend of hers who is a travel agent in town.
She rings the woman at about 9 at night and she is still working. She asks which way I want to go to Hainan and I say the cheapest possible. She says that there is a train, which takes a long time, but you can fly there for 1000rmb roundtrip from Guangzhou, which is four hours from here. I repeat--no, I want to go the cheapest way possible. She says this to the travel agent and they go back and forth, several times. I sit wondering what they are discussing. A lot of discussing always worries me because it usually means that my friendly translator is making decisions without conference--which never turns out to be what I intend.
"She said that it is just 1000rmb to fly. If you go to guangzhou, stay in guangzhou overnight and catch the train in the morning, it will cost you about 800rmb, so why not fly?"
We go back and forth on different options before I decide to think about it some more. When we arrive back at the school gate, Anna calls a friend of hers from Hainan and asks her what she normally pays to go back home. The woman cannot hear us clearly, so we agree to meet each other in the English department. When we meet, she tells me it depends on which way I want to travel to hainan. I say, again, the cheapest route possible. She says that the cheapest route possible is only available to students.
I gasp.
"Okay, the cheapest route to Hainan for me."
She spends several overly confusing minutes discussing the different transport options available. I laugh to myself at how complex all of this seems to be. There is a bus from Chenzhou, but its slow.
You can take a bus to Guangzhou and take a train to Hainan.
You can take a train to Guangzhou and take a train to Hainan.
You can take a train to Guangzhou and take a bus to Hainan.
or you can fly.
The prices are all varied and she doesn't know how much it is because she is just a student, so she only knows how much the student rate is.
I talk to another friend of mine later in the afternoon who says that there is a direct bus to hainan that leaves here each morning at 10:40am. It arrives in Hainan 7 hours later. The total cost: 150rmb each way.
I will let you know in a couple of days if this is the case.
I must go teach the kiddies now. Read more!
06 December 2005
Revaluing the Yuan
In other news, China has announed today that it will not revalue the Yuan.
This is good news for me as my meager salary will still go futher in the marketplace. It is bad news for American workers and the rest of the world that is producing products for consumption because it essentially means that China will still be the best deal in the world to do business in for low end goods.
Why?
Because even though China has joined the WTO, they are still taking their own sweet time in coming into the marketplace at a fair and just rate. They keep the exchange rate high, which lures big business because it basically gets a deal that should not be available in the market--think of that scenerio where a stolen truck pulls up to your street with 52 inch Plasma televisions for sale at $200 instead of $2000. That is China.
The United States keeps shaking their finger at China, threatning to impose trade restrictions and China, as it will always do, is polite and doesn't directly say no (it is against Chinese culture to directly say no.)
Bush and the other big business capitalists in charge in Washington, know that this is political bullshit, but they also know that there isnt a thing that they can do about it.
Why?
For years, decades even, China has been getting a lot of money from open market capitalism and not giving any of it to the people in the people's republic. Instead, it just reinvests in the market--both in the bond market as well as the US market. They are the No. 1 country that owns most of the US debt. While Bush is fighting a war, he is essentially doing it on credit. The credit card used by more Bush's-- Bank of China.
So, while the US likes to use big words to make us seem like big balls, China has our balls and knows how small they really are and they have their cold hands cupping them gently and telling us to just cough and everything will be alright.... Read more!
This is good news for me as my meager salary will still go futher in the marketplace. It is bad news for American workers and the rest of the world that is producing products for consumption because it essentially means that China will still be the best deal in the world to do business in for low end goods.
Why?
Because even though China has joined the WTO, they are still taking their own sweet time in coming into the marketplace at a fair and just rate. They keep the exchange rate high, which lures big business because it basically gets a deal that should not be available in the market--think of that scenerio where a stolen truck pulls up to your street with 52 inch Plasma televisions for sale at $200 instead of $2000. That is China.
The United States keeps shaking their finger at China, threatning to impose trade restrictions and China, as it will always do, is polite and doesn't directly say no (it is against Chinese culture to directly say no.)
Bush and the other big business capitalists in charge in Washington, know that this is political bullshit, but they also know that there isnt a thing that they can do about it.
Why?
For years, decades even, China has been getting a lot of money from open market capitalism and not giving any of it to the people in the people's republic. Instead, it just reinvests in the market--both in the bond market as well as the US market. They are the No. 1 country that owns most of the US debt. While Bush is fighting a war, he is essentially doing it on credit. The credit card used by more Bush's-- Bank of China.
So, while the US likes to use big words to make us seem like big balls, China has our balls and knows how small they really are and they have their cold hands cupping them gently and telling us to just cough and everything will be alright.... Read more!
Its about time....
Sorry about the lack of posting over the last several days--just not too much to report here in China. Winter has set in and so has a slight tinge of depression. The holiday season is among you, but here its just business as usual. Things are starting to annoy me more and more here as you get past what the foreigners call the "honeymoon" with China and settle into your everyday life. Now it is becoming more and more dismal and winter enters the picture.
Most of the problem that I am encountering comes from a lack of people to share the experiences with. For some reason this has always been a common problem. The other foreigners that are here are just so different than me in too many ways that we have little to talk about and when we do, it gets me down. They are always so pessimistic about the experience--and that says a lot coming from someone like me. I just realize that I am a little special in the fact that I have really had the chance to experience the good life and the shitty life really brings a lot of light and clarity when the times are good. When it is the other way around, it is difficult.
I didn't imagine I would miss Americans, but in a way I do. The only American to come to Chenzhou was Phillip, who went packing after a month. This is a good thing--I was lobbying hard to fire the guy and he certainly wouldn't have made it this far along in the game.
I have to just keep remembering that the end is coming faster than I want it to. Soon enough I will be applying for jobs both in the US and abroad and looking for the next move. there are many options to consider because nothing concrete has really surfaced as of yet.
I have learned alot of things here about myself as well as society and what people can really live on--it is both an amazing concept and one that is shocking to me. I just can't believe at times that people live like they do here, but it also makes sick when I think that people are buying homes in Seattle for the price they are going for--it just makes you very aware of where you are. That's not too say that either side lives a better life than the other--it is all in the mind about where and what is good and plentiful in the world. For me, I am just happy I get to see both sides of the coin for what they are. Read more!
Most of the problem that I am encountering comes from a lack of people to share the experiences with. For some reason this has always been a common problem. The other foreigners that are here are just so different than me in too many ways that we have little to talk about and when we do, it gets me down. They are always so pessimistic about the experience--and that says a lot coming from someone like me. I just realize that I am a little special in the fact that I have really had the chance to experience the good life and the shitty life really brings a lot of light and clarity when the times are good. When it is the other way around, it is difficult.
I didn't imagine I would miss Americans, but in a way I do. The only American to come to Chenzhou was Phillip, who went packing after a month. This is a good thing--I was lobbying hard to fire the guy and he certainly wouldn't have made it this far along in the game.
I have to just keep remembering that the end is coming faster than I want it to. Soon enough I will be applying for jobs both in the US and abroad and looking for the next move. there are many options to consider because nothing concrete has really surfaced as of yet.
I have learned alot of things here about myself as well as society and what people can really live on--it is both an amazing concept and one that is shocking to me. I just can't believe at times that people live like they do here, but it also makes sick when I think that people are buying homes in Seattle for the price they are going for--it just makes you very aware of where you are. That's not too say that either side lives a better life than the other--it is all in the mind about where and what is good and plentiful in the world. For me, I am just happy I get to see both sides of the coin for what they are. Read more!
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