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.

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.

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.

The Start of My Third Year

I have been living in China for over two years now. With the exception of two weeks, I spent all that time here. Much of that time has been spent learning Chinese. Lately, I have been very busy. I teach 28 hours per week, and I spend lots of time studying Chinese. I also found a girlfriend, so I need to make time for her.

Being in a cross-cultural relationship is difficult. Even when the language is not an issue, there are things that happen that do not translate easily. Sometimes, I do things or say things that are misunderstood.

Sorry I am going to stop now, but I feel a little sick. I simply wanted to write something because I hadn't wrote a blog in quite a long time.

A Challenge

Living in China is like living anywhere else. There are good points, and there are points that can make living difficult.

Sometimes it is easier to focus on the frustrations and things that are difficult here, particularly after a non-preferred event occurs... But I will make my best attempt to focus on the aspects that are good and positive.

One of the things I like most about China is the challenge. There are many Challenges that I can embrace. The good part is that most of the challenges that I encounter are optional, so I can avoid them if they become too overwhelming. Obviously, I deal with a language barrier, but I also deal with cultural differences as well. Last month, I found a Buddhist place. I am not exactly too sure of what they do there, but I do know that it pertains to Buddhism. I know it isn't a temple, although the building that houses this place does contain some alters. There is a man who is approximately in his forties who runs the place. He provides some type of consultation. Perhaps spiritual consultation, but I am currently not too clear. He seems very friendly. He resembles what I would think of as a Buddhist monk, although people who are not monks may also wear the Buddhist monk garb. Im not sure. A friend told me that all Buddhist monks shave their heads. This man does not. His hair is short, but not shaved. I know that he does have a superior, but he is the highest person of that place that I have met in terms of authority. One of his assistants is quite a challenge because he asks difficult questions. Overcoming the language barrier, and addressing my ideas in Chinese are difficult.

I don't know if all Buddhist are alike, but these Buddhist seem to have a love for fire. During my last visit, the group lit two fires in front of the building. There seems little regard for what I would think of as fire safety. There are many things that I observe at this Buddhist location and others like it that puzzle me. For example, leaving food at the alters. That seems like such a waste.

The next think I want to share is, is a portion of a letter that I wrote to a friend describing what it feels like living in China;

" ... Welcome to the China ride! Don't try to change anyone or anything. Don't be a reformer. Don't try to fix things. Don't get involved in any arguments between Chinese people, no matter what. Don't expect Chinese people to be honest. Most things here are straight forward. Start at the beginning, do what your told, don't deviate, and get off when the ride is over. China can be a great source of entertainment if I can try to find the humorous side of things, but it can also be quite depressing. ... "

I am here by choice. I am a foreigner. This means that some things are forbidden to me, while other things are more accessible. I have seen so much that I am sure that I would never have encountered if I had never left the United States. So since I am here, I just try to gracefully accept my lot. However, my lot isn't really that bad!

If anyone is considering a move to China, I think that a few characteristics are probably essential ordered from least important to most.
- an open mind
- flexibility - i.e. last minute changes
- having the ability to just let things be without trying to change them
- patience, and slow to anger.
and finally... A sense of humor. There is plenty of humor to be found here.

p.s.

For those considering trips to China... If you plan on traveling within China, and intend on taking a train, I strongly suggest that you not book a hard seat train for trips that last more than 2-4 hours. I can handle them with too much complaint for about 4 hours, but after that... They suck. They are misery for long hauls, I.E. the 12 hour train ride from Beijing to Hohhot. Instead, what you should do is spend the extra money, and book a hard sleeper. Sleepers are bunks that I think are reasonably comfortable. Some people prefer the soft sleeper, but to me, the extra money vs the additional comfort provided are just not worth the value.

Book an overnight train that leaves at around 6pm. As soon as you get on the train, you can sit and look out the window for a few hours, or you can read a book or whatever. Later, you can eat whatever you brought with you, or buy the overpriced shit they sell on the train. Go to sleep, because they will turn the cabin lights off at around 10 -1030, and all the Chinese people go to sleep. Sleep through the night, and next morning you will have arrived at your destination! Plus, you just save money on lodging.

In a word, hard seats suck. I will ride them for short trips, but not for long trips.

I recently went on a solo trip around China. It was pretty cool overall. Although I did struggle with loneliness, I did appreciate the fact that I was able to see some really interesting things. I realized that things in different parts of China are not necessarily the same as they are up here in the north. I remember that when I was young, I believed that all Chinese people wore cone-shaped hats (for clarification, please read comments below). After arriving in China, I didn't see anyone wearing these hats. I concluded that I was wrong. When I went south, I saw some people wearing the cone-shaped hats and realized that some of the things I believed about China were based in some truth, but the ideas were not necessarily reflecting all of China.

Well, I am back in Baoding, and since seeing other parts of the country, it has helped me see Baoding differently as well. When I visit other Chinese cities, I analyze these places from the perspective of someone who does not intend to stay long. This is not the case with Baoding. I arrived here analyzing this city as a place I intended to stay for a while. I arrived for the first time to most of the other cities at the bus or train station. As soon as I step out of the train station, I get my first (and sometimes lasting) impression of that city. This is not so with Baoding. I was driven right to my door of my apartment.

None of these observations are very important, I just want to make the point that the traveling and sightseeing I have done has caused me to change the way that I see my home city of Baoding. I would imagine that when I return to the United States, I will also see that different as well.

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The cone-shaped hats I was talking about are called Conical Asian hats. They have other names as well, but I want to be somewhat specific as to what I was talking about. If you want to know more about these, there are many references available online.

Shopping day in Baoding.

Yesterday, I went downtown. It was crazier than normal, many stores were having sales. October 1st of every year is National Day. National Day is similar to the fourth of July in the United States. Most people do not work on this day, so many of them go shopping. In China, the sheer number of people can be overwhelming at times. I don't remember experiencing anything quite like this in the states.

People were everywhere. The sidewalks and streets were crowded. The edge of the sidewalk near the street is lined with vendors. These vendors sell everything from food, clothing, electronics, novelty items, and small household appliances. I saw one vendor selling plasma television sets. On the sidewalk, the traffic is going both ways. If a person sees something that a vendor is selling, they simply stop walking and look at the item. This means that the people behind them have to stop as well because the oncoming flow of people prevent easy passage. On the wider portions of the sidewalks, stores will set up stages and put on shows that promote the products they are selling. As a person walks down the street, they hear lots of noise. All of these street performances, and other stores playing music are quite noisy. Costumers, vendors, store owners, beggars, policemen and other people are trying to handle their affairs. Sometimes people will drive their motorscooters down the crowded sidewalks, not really thinking of anyone but themselves.

It isn't that bad, it is something that I am getting used to. It really is safe, so long as I watch for traffic.

Yesterday I bought two pairs of shoes. In a previous post, I commented that purchasing shoes is difficult for me. My shoe size is on the upper limit of what I can find at many shoe stores in China. I can sometimes find the length, but the shoes are almost always narrow. Yesterday, I think I lucked out, I found two pairs of shoes that seem comfortable. I hope I still think so after I start wearing them all the time.

Today, I also went downtown and I purchased a jacket. It is a nice jacket, and I can tell it was well made. If I am willing to spend a bit of money, I can find some good quality clothing. I suppose that this is true everywhere. I was looking at a fleece shirt today. The quality was really good, and it was fashionable. The store wanted the equivalent of about $50 for it, which is about what a person would expect to pay in the states. Because of the quality, maybe someone would have to pay more than $50.

My point is that shopping in China is not that easy, but there can be good deals to be found. When I was still living in the US, I figured that merchandise would be dirt cheap. After arriving in China, I found that I can purchase really poor quality merchandise dirt cheap, but if the goods resemble items that might sell well in western countries, the price is almost the same that one would expect to pay in their respective country. This is true for food as well. For example, McDonalds charges about the same price as one would expect to pay in the US. A Big Mac combo meal might run you 35 - 45 元. To find good western style food, I have to go to Beijing. There, I can expect to pay quite a bit of money. A person can find good deals in China for clothes. Here are some suggestions for people who intend to go shopping when in China;
- when you visit, do not bring a lot of clothing. I would suggest that you do not ship clothing back to the US. Only buy what you can carry back with you.
- Larger sizes are frequently difficult to come by. If you are a larger sized person, maybe you want to make sure that you bring enough clothing in case you cannot find your size in China.
- I don't really know much about buying women's clothing, but women's clothes seem really good. Men's clothing can be bothersome. I sometimes think that the men's clothing is feminine. I don't care for wearing pink or purple tee-shirts.
- If you look like a foreigner, and you cannot speak Chinese, expect to not pay the Chinese price for anything if you are in a large tourist city like Beijing or Shanghai. You will likely overpay. If you can speak Chinese, you will probably also overpay. Your best bet is to go to a city that does not see many tourists. In that way, you can have more confidence that you will not be completely fleeced.

I don't know too much about this topic, perhaps other people can be more helpful than me. I would urge you to seek their advice.