2006

Ahhhh, the holidays. One would think that in China I would be depressed because there is not really any celebrations like New Years or Christmas.
Wrong indeed.
There were many plans in the air to do many things, but when it came down to it, I was more than happy to just hang out in Chenzhou and see what the holidays were like for the people that I see all the time. Many foreigners I know headed down to Yangshou to ring in the new year with other white people, but that idea really did not interest me. I was glad I didn't.
New Years here was a bit of a joke, but a fun one with some western style drama included in it. You will have to wait for the long version of everything in regards to these events because I am wanting to write it all out and giving little chunks of information about the week is not going to tell the full story. Let's just say that I am really beginning to appreciate time when I can just sit in my flat and read or write--for the first time in a long time I am content with just being. Most of this is a mix of being really tired of people here and just needing time to get the things done that I have promised myself to finish. I have a lot of work to be doing between now and the time I leave and I am trying to arrange my life with a game plan when the time comes to depart from China (which is approaching quickly).
The next couple of weeks is going to allow for that. Finals are going to happen this week--if I want it to or not, its here. Then, we break for about a month. During this time I will be doing one of two things:
Option A is to go to Thailand and see a friend who is in Bankock. Tickets to Thailand are dirt cheap and it would be nice to get out of China for a bit.
Option B is to stay in China as I am only here for a year and that is a short time to see such a vast country with so many different provinces and people. I feel like I am cheating the overall experience a little if I do not try to stay in China for the entire trip. The problem is the cold weather and my lack of cold weather gear, which was actually resolved today when I bought a new North Face jacket from a downtown merchant. Now I am prepared for any kind of weather that come my way--so I am leaning to staying in China again. If I did stay in China, I would more than likely stick to the lower end of the country and focus on the provinces here that interest me the most-- Yunnan for the delicious New'er teas, Sichuan for the various terrains and spicy food (which does not interest my stomach so much) and Chongdoung province, which I will be sure to discuss much more of in future posts.
So, I am not sure which route to take--most of it just depends on how the cards fall when the time gets closer. Regardless, I am going to hang out here for a week and look at Chenzhou without all the people and distractions and try to get some good writing taken care of. The last couple of weeks really show me how busy with nothing you can really get. I feel like my whole plan of getting an hour or two of writing in everyday has been replaced with repeated discoveries of the same places all the time. I catch myself avoiding writing at any cost because it is real work at times and producing the volumes of babble I put up here will eventually have to be edited and thought over and I am just not at that point where I am ready to put it all together and see what really comes out of it.
The other problem is trying to find enough information about doing anythingin this country is difficult and seems to take hours of time. Communication here is mostly done through short text messaging, which keeps me busy as well. (Not to mention that I am grading 500 students over the next week--so its long days these days, all built on final exams--another finite point I am going to discuss at length)
So, steady as we go....