Tales of a (*very* White Guy's) Life in China
It's come to my attention that some people might enjoy hearing the inane details of my life in China. (Please direct howls of scorn and derision at a one raiderguy76) So here's a (hopefully) condensed version of it.
I've been here since August of 2005. I spent a semester in the fall of 2003 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I've started to realize with hindsight that at this point, it would have to be counted as the best four months or so of my life. I had gotten lucky when my advisor heard me talk about an inkling of interest in studying abroad in Asia. A few months later, and with a nice chunk of scholarship change in my pocket, I got a plane not knowing who or what the next four months would have in store for me. I met people from literally all over the world and I dare say had the most formative four months that I'll have in my life. It completely changed my perception of the world. It was no longer "us" (America) and "them" (everyone else)...it's so trite, but I really felt like I became a "citizen of the world". All of these abstract countries like Australia or Sweden were no longer places on the map, they were where my friends lived (and places that I'd soon visit and see for myself).
As I approached my college graduation, I realized that I just didn't "feel like" going straight to grad school, and God knows I wasn't looking for a real job (hereafter referred to as a J-O-B). I had enjoyed my time in Hong Kong and had done a bit of traveling in Mainland China during my time in Hong Kong. I also knew that I still had friends in Hong Kong. So what the hell, I thought...why not pack it up and head for China? I got a teaching job teaching English to children and adults in the city of Zhuhai. China map in general, close up on my region. By Chinese standards, Zhuhai is a "smaller" city coming in at "only" 1.3 million. So just imagine a country with about 1,000 cities of 1.3 million people and you get 1.3 billion with a 'b' Chinese people.
I only teach 17 hours a week and have three days off. The salary isn't much in US dollar terms, but I live like a king by Chinese standards. It's a private language school, so we work around the schedules of our students. Which means tons of children’s' classes on the weekends and adult classes in the evening during the week. It makes for some long weekends (I currently have seven 100 minute classes over the two of Saturday and Sunday), but it also leaves plenty of spare time during the week.
I must say that the experience has worked out pretty well all things considered. China is definitely very different and still qualifies as a *developing* country. But the more I've traveled, the more I've realized that really, there's very few places in the world where I couldn't conceivably live very comfortably. (With the obvious exception of that whole patch of land between Indonesia and Morocco...praise be to Allah and all that, but they can keep it for themselves)
A few frequently asked questions:
Brad, you live in China and teach Chinese students, do you speak Chinese?
Oh, silly, silly man. I speak all told maybe 50 words of Chinese. It's enough to get by, but for any larger tasks, I have a great local friend who speaks terrific English and does all my bidding with local shops and other such things. In my classes, if the students English isn't that great and they are in early classes, we have a Chinese teaching assistant to help us with translation of difficult terms or concepts and often times, serve as a bit of a disciplinarian. So no, I don't really speak Chinese. But I do speak Spanish!
Do Chinese people hate America?
Well, they aren't big fans of President Bush. But I look at the positive side of that, and the fact that there dislike is something China has in common with approximately 2/3 of Americans. So even on the other side of the world, Chinese can spot incompetence, and I'd say they didn't like him way before it was "cool" to think he was an idiot in America. To me personally, they are very friendly. Though the country is full of thieves and con-artists, but they steal from the Chinese as much if not more than they do from westerners.
What's the food like?
The food isn't bad. Food from this region of China can be kind of "blah", but there are tons of restaurants from other parts of China and that food is much better. Though I honestly don't eat as much Chinese food as you might expect. There is a good Indian restaurant and a good Thai restaurant in town, so in an effort to awaken my taste buds, I usually eat at those places once a week or so. And when I need it, I can get canned pasta sauce and make "Italian" at my apt. Lastly, there is tons of fast food over here. KFC and McDonalds dominate. Though there is a Pizza Hut.
What's it like to live in an area dominated by Communists?
How would I know? I've never lived in Northern California. Even though China is still officially "Communist", it's pretty much a market economy in an authoritarian country. The "Communist" party was wise enough to learn lessons from the Soviets and open up the economy before it collapsed. So at this point, you can do what you want in business just as long as you don't challenge the government's political leadership position.
Well, if you made it this far, congratulations. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them. In case it's not obvious by now, I like talking about myself.
I've been meaning to post about my trip that I took over Chinese New Year. The trip that could only really be called a "disastrophe". It was bad, though not entirely so. I've just been trying to get some distance from it so that I could write more thoughtfully about it.