Mystifiying Things Ch. 1

The Chinese do some things that just don't make sense. I suspect that part of this is because I'm in a backwater, undeveloped part of China and that many of these things don't happen in, say, Beijing or Shanghai. So maybe I should say that Jiliners do some things that just don't make sense. I've decided to start posting a list of things that I can legitimately find no explanation for.

I live on the top floor. I have no neighbours. There is no elevator. Between my floor and the penultimate floor is a staircase with a landing. There is no reason for anyone except me to ever regularly ascend to this landing. At the landing is a small panel door that allows access to some plumbing. There is a bit of a ledge inside. A supply of recycling (ex. empty water bottles, coke cans etc.) slowly builds up on this ledge and then periodically disappears. What is going on? Why would somebody go to the trouble of climbing the stairs to this landing, in order to keep their recycling in a place not intended or suitable for recycling?

This mystery nags at me in an entirely inordinate amount. There is just no reason for this to be happening. People don't go out of their way to purposefully inconvenience themselves for no reward. I have considered a wide range of possibilities and none seem any more likely than that someone is choosing to store their recycling there. But the issue really isn't the mystery, it's the fact that based on my experiences with Jiliners so far, there probably IS NO REASONABLE explanation...and that drives me nuts. If I were to find the person who was doing it they probably couldn't tell me why they did it. Instead the conversation would probably go something like this: Me: "Why do you keep your recycling in such an inconvenient place"...Culprit: "that's where the recycling is kept"...Me: "But why right there? Why not somewhere that's more suited for it and easier to get to?"...Culprit: "I keep my recycling in this little hole in the wall"...Me: "I see that, but I'm trying to understand WHY you choose to put it THERE..."...Culprit: "because that's where the recycling is kept". Sigh. All day, every day, folks.

Vacation Time

Okay...a trivia question for you: what do Guitar Hero 3, the Dead Kennedys and myself all have in common? If you guessed "A Holiday in Cambodia" you were correct...give yourself a prize! My flight is booked into Phnom Penh (which surprisingly enough is pronounced "nom pen" not "fnom pen he"...oops) for the 30th of January and I'll be there for 10 days, chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool (shooting some bball outside the school...nice). I hope to get a chance to take a day trip to see Angkor Wat. I also hope to play some golf. You can see my priority list is a bit of a mish mash. Mostly though, I want to get out of Jilin and take a break from life here. I desperately need to recharge my batteries. I'm doing fine and I'm in good spirits but I've been slipping into a negative mindset which I'm none too pleased about. Being overly critical of Chinese practices and attitudes instead of just trying to roll with it. I think that a vacation is just what the doctor ordered.

Worrisome news

It seems that the Chinese government is in a tiff with Google and that Google is threatening to withdraw it's services from the Asian giant. This is very bad news for me as all of my correspondence so far has been through Gmail. If I suddenly go off the map try my hotmail account: duncan_harvie@hotmail.com or my old NS teachers account: harviedj@staff.ednet.ns.ca.

Also, I notice that since I've left Canada many people have added me as a friend on Facebook. I am not ignoring your friend requests...I have no access to Facebook here. I get an email telling me to go confirm it but I can't sign in. Please don't be offended :)

These are some pretty clear examples of what it's like to live in a country that is not free. It is substantially more frustrating than it sounds.

New Years

What did I do for New Years you ask? Well, I'll tell you. I went to a small party with some foreigners and then at about 11:30p we headed out to a Western style bar called Bar Code. Soon after I found myself and a fellow Canadian named Covey on stage playing music with the house band. It was awesome! Here I am in China playing Weezer and Radiohead with some Chinese dudes who keep leaning into the mic with random guttural screams when they think appropriate. It was ridiculous. Highlight: playing Hotel California and having the crowd out sing me during the chorus. I HAD A MICROPHONE and they were louder! As per usual, the Chinese accent just makes it funnier.

It's been four months and I still have these surreal moments where I look around and think to myself "Holy crap, I'm in Asia". And these moments, like being on stage jamming with Chinese musicians and having a sing-a-long with a crowd of Chinese people, are really special. I've been pretty stressed of late and these moments help a lot...it's difficult to describe but it's kind of like anti-regret. (I searched for a word that is the opposite of regret and came up with words like contentment and satisfaction...these are not how I feel...anti regret is a much more accurate describer) You know, it's evidence that I'm glad I came. In the middle of them I often have the realization that I definitely would not be having experiences like this if I had stayed in Halifax and I don't think I've ever enjoyed living in the moment quite so much as when that happens. And so this is obviously a good thing.

In other news I've begun playing practical jokes on my students. First I set the classroom clock ahead and tricked a couple of them into thinking they were late. Push ups. Thanks for the suggestion Akim. Next I will be using a suggestion from Susan...making a very long, difficult pop quiz which says at the top "Read all questions before answering" and making the last question "Do not answer any of the above questions". Ahhhh, revenge. So sweet. mua ha ha ha ha ha!