Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Been pretty busy
Looks like my worst fear has been confirmed. I'm going to have to teach the work load of 2 teachers. They tried to hire a 3rd teacher but he can't get a visa, the local authorities are pretty much looking for any excuse to reject people here in Zhangzhou. So, now I'm busy as hell.
Friday, February 13, 2009
English QQ
The insanely popular IM client QQ finally has an English version. It's pointless to use QQ unless you live or have a ton of friends in China since it's really only used here. But pretty much every single young person I've ever talked to has a QQ account.
English QQ
English QQ
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Spent the day in Xiamen
My friend and I had coffee and a bagel in a cafe, went shopping for books, took a walk on the beach, ate pizza at pizza hut, and walked down Zhongshan road. School starts Monday. I am very sad.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Crown Cave, Guilin
This one was actually really cool, we took a small boat ride down the subterranean river.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Already evaluating my stay here...
I still have like over 4 months left but I'm already wondering what I have gained from staying here.
I remember it very clearly when my desire to learn another language was greater than my laziness. I just came home from teaching, I was tired, upset, lonely, and absolutely bored out of my mind. I laid down to rest and started wondering why the hell I came here. I knew coming to a small town was a stupid idea, but the desire to travel again was so great I convinced myself to go anyway. I was trying to find anything positive about my decision. Was I making more money? Not even close, less than 1/3 of what I was making in Korea. Did I have more things to do? Not even close. Was this place more interesting? Nope. Were my students more interested in learning? Nope. And then I realized I was just wasting my time here and I really needed to find something fast so this wouldn't end up a total waste. And that's when I made the decision to study Chinese.
I actually went through this process a couple times since then, realizing this is pointless and I'd better make lemonade out of my situation. I did the opposite in Korea. I retreated away from everything Korean which is impossibly difficult when you live in the country.
I just noticed something, I always seem to make the comparison between the two countries. But I wonder if it's not that the countries are that different, it's just that I've been living overseas for 2 years now and I think about things differently then when I first moved overseas.
Anyway, this is more of a end of the journey post but I figure I'd do it now while it was still fresh in my mind...
Only one more semester...only one more semester...only one more semester...
...then...freedom and a brand new land to explore.
I remember it very clearly when my desire to learn another language was greater than my laziness. I just came home from teaching, I was tired, upset, lonely, and absolutely bored out of my mind. I laid down to rest and started wondering why the hell I came here. I knew coming to a small town was a stupid idea, but the desire to travel again was so great I convinced myself to go anyway. I was trying to find anything positive about my decision. Was I making more money? Not even close, less than 1/3 of what I was making in Korea. Did I have more things to do? Not even close. Was this place more interesting? Nope. Were my students more interested in learning? Nope. And then I realized I was just wasting my time here and I really needed to find something fast so this wouldn't end up a total waste. And that's when I made the decision to study Chinese.
I actually went through this process a couple times since then, realizing this is pointless and I'd better make lemonade out of my situation. I did the opposite in Korea. I retreated away from everything Korean which is impossibly difficult when you live in the country.
I just noticed something, I always seem to make the comparison between the two countries. But I wonder if it's not that the countries are that different, it's just that I've been living overseas for 2 years now and I think about things differently then when I first moved overseas.
Anyway, this is more of a end of the journey post but I figure I'd do it now while it was still fresh in my mind...
Only one more semester...only one more semester...only one more semester...
...then...freedom and a brand new land to explore.
Power supply
The power supply broke on the computer I was using with mnemosyne. I'm going to really need to scramble so I don't get too far behind in my reps.
Friday, February 6, 2009
One more left...
I have one more term left before I leave. I'm leaning towards Taiwan as my next stop but not before taking a semester or two of Chinese at the community college in my hometown.
The problem with where I live now is that the development of the place is pretty bad, there just isn't much to do here. Local entertainment includes, mahjong (májiàng), xiàngqí, sports, and shopping. Only places to take walks without fear of being run over are the two small parks. No expat bars, cafes, or hangouts (there are only a handful of expats here at any point in time). Without a deep knowledge of the Chinese language this place is pretty rough.
The problem with Korea (when I lived there) were the expats (but they now require drug and criminal background checks to work there) and the passive-aggressive attitude towards foreigners. The development was fantastic however, you can watch Hollywood movies in English in the movie theaters. Plenty of expat hangouts, even in the smaller cities, full of western style bars, cafes, all kinds of international restaurants etc. Too much crap to do basically. But, I never really felt comfortable there like I do in China.
Enter Taiwan. You've got the fantastic Chinese culture and language, plus a very pro-western society, plus well developed like Korea.
So, I think I'll go to Taiwan next.
The problem with where I live now is that the development of the place is pretty bad, there just isn't much to do here. Local entertainment includes, mahjong (májiàng), xiàngqí, sports, and shopping. Only places to take walks without fear of being run over are the two small parks. No expat bars, cafes, or hangouts (there are only a handful of expats here at any point in time). Without a deep knowledge of the Chinese language this place is pretty rough.
The problem with Korea (when I lived there) were the expats (but they now require drug and criminal background checks to work there) and the passive-aggressive attitude towards foreigners. The development was fantastic however, you can watch Hollywood movies in English in the movie theaters. Plenty of expat hangouts, even in the smaller cities, full of western style bars, cafes, all kinds of international restaurants etc. Too much crap to do basically. But, I never really felt comfortable there like I do in China.
Enter Taiwan. You've got the fantastic Chinese culture and language, plus a very pro-western society, plus well developed like Korea.
So, I think I'll go to Taiwan next.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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