So much for updating more than once a week!
I have already failed in that resolution, it appears. The good news is that I have followed through on some of my other goals. I am going to have my ramblings published in a newspaper! The University of Detroit Mercy Varsity newspaper has decided to start a twice-monthly column chronicling some of my travel experiences. I'm very excited about this, and hopefully a little bit more exposure will lead to some more readers over here. I've also signed up for some Mandarin lessons from a professional Chinese teacher. My self-guided study is still going well, but I think I've hit a wall. I want to get much better at Chinese in the new year!
It appears that the suck of January reaches even the farthest corners of the Earth. It's been remarkably depressing around here lately! The cold feels like it is here to stay. December and January are the only truly cold months in China, but this 60 day stretch feels never ending. The days are starting to get longer, but it is still generally dark by the time we get off work.
The short days belie the length of our work days, which only seem to get longer. January has been the month of abrupt schedule changes. Even abrupter than before. Our Oral classes have been moved around more times than I can count, and have now officially been cancelled for the rest of the semester. Our other classes have also been moved around and are frequently cancelled. We were just informed the other day that there will be a winter camp before the February break, and in order to allow us enough time to prepare the camp lessons all of our other classes have been cancelled.
In effect, this means that the foreign teachers have absolutely zero classes to teach until January 28th, but we are still required to come into work from 9 until 5:30 every single day. AND JUST SIT HERE!
Muppet Treasure Island, one of the greatest films of our generation, had a musical number in it about Cabin Fever. Well, I have cabin fever, and it's a lot less fun than the Muppets would have you believe.
The only reprieve from this is the hallowed halls of my fantasies regarding the February break. This almost seems like a legend. It seems too good to be true. Can we really have a month break from all the insanity?
China culture has really been grating on me this week as well. The little things that I found cute, funny, or fascinating for the last 6 months are now the most annoying and grating things about life here.
Phone conversations, for example. Everyone is on their phone all the time here, and no one can be quiet. Constantly shouting/screaming into a cell phone is basically a national pass time. More generally, the volume of China is at a constant 11.
Car horns, jackhammers, singing, cell phones ringing, children screaming from joy, children screaming and crying. These are the soundtrack to my day-to-day life. The symphonies provided by Helen, Melody, Yoyo, Bingo, and Spider are unique and varied but they are always grating. As many of you know I have suffered from chronic migraine headaches my entire life. Well, let's just say that China is no headache cure-all.
But, February beckons. Today marks the almost half-way point of January. I know I can do this!
A break is really all I need. After 6 months I don't know if I can say that I truly understand Chinese culture, or that I have become one with it, but I do feel that I have become a part of the rat race. All of those problems I tried to leave behind at home have found me again, and the sheeny glint of a far off foreign lands have given way to the smoggy grit of a "home sweet home". 1 month of traveling and seeing new vistas will completely reinvigorate me, I can already feel it.
Plus, once I come back I am hoping that all of China will be like new again. After a month of hiking through sweltering jungles and seeing things I never imagined I would see in my wildest dreams, the comforts of my home away from home in Foshan city will once more feel like a welcome reprieve.
Week 25 was one purely of work for Laura and I. Thanks to our agreement in Zhaoqing and also because of screwy scheduling in Foshan, we worked for 8 days in a row, and most of those days were 10 hour days. I did not have much time to explore, or even much time to reflect. As such there is not much more to report in this travelogue.
It is worth noting that we have finally made the decision NOT to renew our contracts in China. I am sure my family back home will not be happy to learn, but Laura and I had been seriously considering staying abroad for a second year up until very recently.
I know a lot of what I write on here seems like complaining, but that is truly just my writing style (this week notwithstanding). In all honesty I have truly cherished my time in China, and it will definitely leave an indelible mark on my soul. Between the once-in-a-lifetime experiences and the halfway decent pay (at least by Chinese standards), the idea of staying an additional year has been an attractive one for much of our stay here.
However, despite the warm feelings, I cannot help but feel like the bad will finally start to outweigh the good in a second year. I can already foresee the things that are just now starting to grate on my nerves taking a turn for the worse. By the end of a second year I would just be a calloused and bitter expatriate, something that I never ever want to be.
So what does next year bring, then? We are not sure. We both love traveling and seeing the world. They say to do it while you are young, and we are still young if we are nothing else. We may go to another country and set up shop as teachers once again. Finland, for some reason in particular, appears to be calling my name through the murky mists of the futures that could be.
Most likely though, and much to the relief of our relations, we will return home for at least a few years. China was an abrupt and much-needed change in my lifestyle, but I cannot forget that I left a lot of business at home unfinished. Oh year, and a big old mountain of debts unpaid.
One thing is clear though, I intend to keep posting on this blog throughout. While it may not be as big of an accomplishment as the book I hope to one day write, and overlooking the fact that I am usually quite behind on my own personal deadlines, I have successfully posted a few thousand words on here every single week for 25 consecutive weeks now! That's a pretty big deal in my book, and my book is the only one that matters, right?
I may not be the most original or entertaining writer in the world, but at the end of the day when someone writes they are writing for themselves. Keep a journal long enough, they say, and the journal begins to keep you. I think that is a good thing. I look forward to a day in the future when I can revisit these hallowed pages and remember all the fun times I've had with people taking poops in the street and with 104 degree days and with eating fish eyeballs.
Stay tuned for more cold fish heads and rock hard beds!
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