Thursday, October 18, 2012

Adjustments

I can now profess that I have lived in China for over three years. At the risk of sounding cocky, I would say that I understand alot... That is that I understand how much I do not actually understand.  This country is so complex, and I dare say that, maybe even more so than the United States. It is a land of contrast. I can see really beautiful and amazing things, but I also see things that make me doubt my faith in humanity. Sure, my Chinese has improved, but it just reveals to me many more level that exist that I do not understand about this society.

Overall, I would say that, besides the problems that I create myself, things are fairly easy. The hardest thing I think I deal with is the feeling I get from time to time that no one here really cares about anything except themselves, and there are no people here who care anything about me (unless I can teach them English, or somehow give them face with their friends). It is so hard to see how Chinese people can be to each other, and it is difficult to watch sometimes.

Cultural differences do not disappear overnight, and my impression is that adapting to change is not a strong suit of many Chinese people. This may be somewhat of a problem because Baoding has undergone many drastic changes over the three years I have been here. I am not sure what will come in the future for either myself, or for anything or anyone else for that matter. I just hope that the changes here, that seem to be happening on a daily basis can be met with grace and dignity.


I find myself from time-to-time having to make adjustments to my life as I continue to understand this culture. As I learn more about how this society works, I find that sometimes, I enter an uncomfortable space while I adjust and accept some fact that I cannot change. I have to deal with certain attitudes, that sometimes vary greatly from the way I think, and this is not always comfortable. 

I guess I don't really have a happy message today, but I must say that, I am happy to be working again. I really do enjoy the work. I just hope that I am helpful to my students, and I am not wasting their time.

I guess that this post is not too helpful, I am not really describing anything specific. I am talking entirely in general and vague terms that don't really describe anything. I am sorry about this. I hope that I get around to maybe describing some of these things in the future. Tonight, I am not really in the mood to do so.

That is all for now.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Summer 2012 recap


I would say that the past few months have been good overall, although I have dealt with annoying shit, plus inconsideration, intolerance, incompetence, and all-around sheer stupidity. If I disregard the problems, it has actually been a very interesting few months. I spent a lot of it traveling. As I mentioned in the previous blog, I left for Shanxi province for a week long bike trip. It was good overall I guess, but I took a much longer bike trip that started in July and ended in August. I will add more later, I hope.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Taiyuan and Pingyao Pre-trip Post

I plan to leave on Saturday for Taiyuan, which is the capitol of Shanxi province. Shanxi province is the one that immediately borders the west side of the one that I live in, Hebei province. I decided to bring my bike as well and I am thinking of riding my bike from Taiyuan to Pingyao, which is about 80 KM. I think it is quite doable. A couple of weeks ago, I rode roughly 60 KM in one day. The entire trip will last around 7 days, and im looking forward to it.

Today, I had my bike sent to Taiyuan, and the system that they use to do this type of thing was rather confusing. I hope that when I arrive in Taiyuan, I will have no problems picking up my bike.

Guess this is all I have to say right now.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Post-romance Blog Update

My girlfriend broke up with me on Valentines Day. Oddly enough, I am not devastated. Yeah, it sucks. Being in that relationship was difficult. I wasn't quite ready to end the relationship. I would have continued to work at it, but she decided to end her commitment.

Shit.

It is what it is. The first couple of days were the hardest. I was physically sick the second day, but I don't know if it was directly related to the breakup, or if maybe I ate bad food. I also stopped drinking coffee. I seem back to my old self now.

After the breakup, I decided to take measures to fill a new void in my life. I decided to sign up for a gym, and my goal is to increase strength and feel better physically overall. The means I wish to use are; training three times per week, and eating healthier. I purchased fish oil tablets, a multivitamin, and whey protein to also help me achieve quicker results. I spent a considerable amount of money thinking that I was going to be paid on the 15th, but I haven't been paid yet. I am living on a shoestring budget.

Anyhow, the relationship was a good run, and I learned alot. I am resisting the temptation to roast her on this blog (ha ha ha), but the reality is that I had a big role in the failure as well. I have a much better understanding on how society works here now than I did before. Anyhow, thats all for now.