Un-neglect, and other words
I've been neglecting my blog. Documenting things; whether they be stories, ideas, idealistic intentions, ect., has fallen by the wayside in lieu of everything else. I guess I felt it was a necessity to pencil down my trip hijinks; and indeed, I've been thinking idealistically of South East Asia these days, missing the sounds the geckos make as they hang on the wall, missing the sheer craziness that happens when you mix poverty with tourism. Even though I haven't been writing about my life here, it's been happening, so I guess I better etch down the best of it.
The good news is, being an English teacher is rather easy. I've started teaching "Supply and Demand," as one of my more intermediate lessons; I always use myself as an example. The demand for English in China is insatiable. People of all ages wear shirts with English written on it; with varying degrees of it making sense. One of my favorite sightings has been "Go away bad luck, good riddance." They don't care, or more likely, don't know what it means... they just think it's cool to wear the language. Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse are accessories for cute 20 something women; unlike being strictly for children in western countries.
There is a fascination with the west that benefits the westerner; here, it's gotten me a job. I've been the victim of Supply and Demand for years. Passed up on by every industry because they have a better alternative. Here, there is none. If they don't have a native speaker, they don't make money, and kids and adults go untaught -- so, wa-lah! a job for me. All the teachers at my center are male. Entry level jobs, in my opinion, are for women and the tall, with the exception being the hard science industry. I can sit back from life and reflect, being here, no longer fine tuning my resume only to have it rejected automatically by a bot.
The thing is, the concept of teaching in China is almost completely unknown. Nobody ever suggested it to me in university: (thank you, guidance counselors? a job I might pursue once I come back). If the topic was raised, it was merely a yearly stint in Korea or Japan. I wonder how many baristas and graveyard shift whatevers would have exponentially better lives if they abandoned their post and flew over. I mean, they have choices, you don't have to pick Shanghai... but I'm lucky I did.
Why? I moved into a new, 100 year old apartment. I believe that sentence was gramatically correct.... I bailed out on a $550/month apartment where I had 4 roommates, in a mediocre borderline bad location, to moving to the prime time spot with no roommates, and I only pay $350~ a month. What's the catch? A shared bathroom where you need to flush the toilet with a pull string (where you have to fill up the top with water, first) and a kitchen on the first floor.
The windows leak in noise from traffic (starts around 7 am, eases up closer to midnight), a single road. My last apartment had a cozy view of 4 highways, all intertwining. It was an important lesson on signing a lease for me, and I am glad I found someone to replace me, or I would have lost $700. And I hope they are happy with the apartment, their new room, although it happily doesn't effect me anymore.
I'm going to start uploading pictures. It would help you understand, see what's going on. I have become good friends with a few of my co-workers, a mild-mannered 34 year old guy from Australia with a spice of jadedness, and a 6'5 guy from Scotland with low self-esteem. My kind of crowd. Of course, standing next to them makes me look quite short, but this is only a reminder of what I have left behind in America. ... and I suppose Austria too, if/when I go there...but as they are work friends, I am often not around them, and am a minority, surrounded by curious, smiling Chinese people. There's a lot I can write about that, what it's been like, all positive. So, that will come next time, I'll try to be more frequent...
