Still crazy, after all these... months

Well, fancy me writing a blog update. As always, I'm sorry for not posting earlier but to say that I've been busy is an understatement. Then, after a month of roller coaster madness, I just had too much to say. However, I was talking to Brian and he gave me the idea to do a '25 Things different in my life' post but I don't know if that'll work, but I'll do something close. I think I'll just update on various aspects of my life and that might work, so here goes nothing...

Apartment: So I moved. Moving here amounted to packing up my suitcases and a few boxes, loading everything into a cab or two and taking it to my new place. Finding the new place was a little more work. Jonah helped me find an agent, who then found places for me to tour. It was somewhat fun, but looking for a new apartment brought out my picky side to say the least. I don't know what grand illusions I had about apartments, I guess I was just searching for Harborview 611 again, but those days have passed. The place I did find however is small and overpriced. However it's in what is easily the hart of downtown Dalian, 19th floor in a luxury building. (I have a doorman!) It's literally one room, what an American real estate agent would describe as 'studio' I'm sure. The view is amazing (Pic 1 and 2) though and I don't regret the choice at all! I live across the street from the biggest (and basically only) park in Dalian. It's sort of like the city's Central Park in a Chinese way. In Chinese parks you don't really walk on the grass, sit under trees, etc. I miss woods in the worst way but there just isn't enough room to have enough trees to have a billion people sit under them.

Work: So, I got a new job. Many of you know the whole complicated mess of what I experienced so I needn't regale you with those tails here. In short, my boss gave me an ultimatum to either get out of the city and disappear in China or go home (sort of mix between 'This town ain't big enough for the two of us' and 'You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here'). He did this because I was dating a girl he was in love with and it was going well. Sure he's married, but why would that stop him! Anyway, when I told him I had a job offer for a school in Dalian and that all he would need to do was sign over my visa papers, he flatly told me no and then basically laid out a 'You'll never work in this town again.'... Oh, Frank Sun and his affability. I'll be honest, I typed his name out point blank so that anyone doing a google search of his name (possible future employees) would get a fair warning. His dealings with me were bullyish to say the least! He seems like someone who is very used to getting what he wants and didn't like that I wasn't going to just roll over for him. As many of you know, I can, at times, be a little stubborn- sure that's how we'll put it. I tried very hard to come to a fair agreement with him and he spit in my face and tried to take advantage of the fact that I was a foreigner in a strange place with no friends... too bad I did have a few friends. Friends who have English schools and need teachers and are willing to treat them very well.

In my new job I get paid 50% more than I used to as well as a host of other very generous perks. But most importantly, they're just honest and give a damn about teaching. Of course they're a business and need to make money, but that doesn't mean they can't do good while accomplishing those aims. I'm proud to be working with them, though the bar has been raised for my performance significantly. It's good though- I needed the challenge! There was nothing worst than feeling like I had a useless dead end job. If I wanted one of those I would have stayed in America. I'm glad I have something more up to my standards.

Job satisfaction: To go hand in hand with the last section, my job satisfaction is so much higher. I actually enjoy going to work now and end up staying late some days just because. Our boss fully embraces the idea that if you keep the work place close knit and fun, your employees will be happy. A simple idea for us, but all to often in China, seeing as how employees (no matter how educated and skilled) are almost always indispensable because there are so many people who need jobs. If an employee has something they don't like about their jobs, they shut up or get out. That's why I'm certainly very pleased with having an American boss. He's of course not without his faults, and sometimes those faults grind my gears, but generally speaking, things are good. I just have to keep reminding myself he's from California, where people use phrases like 'Work hard, play hard' and don't understand why we roll our eyes. They talk fast, exercise and wear shorts most of the year- what do you expect. It is funny seeing these southern/western people cope in the winter. First of all, they can't walk on snow or ice, secondly when it's cold they get all depressed. If I have to hear about how one more person is suffering from 'Vitamin D deficiency' I'm gonna sock'em one.

Impressions of China: For a long while, I had a very negative view of China and Chinese people. Often, I considered my entire trip here useless and the country's entire populace no good cheating rat fink bastards. However, to be fair, everyone I was surrounded by were almost entirely those things. Frank certainly is, or if he isn't, he does a damn good impression. As well, I had to be face to face with the ugly reality of Chinese government and it's 'corruption.' I put it in ' ' s because by the Chinese standard, it isn't dishonest or morally repulsive, it's more of the way things are done. EVERYTHING is relationships. Without a judicial structure though to safeguard against fraudsters, cheats, thieves, etc. I can almost entirely understand why it's that way. If I'm engaging in business in a land where contracts are unenforceable, it helps to know that the person is a friend of my friend's who has attested for the person. In short, it's a personal policing system.

So, in when I was in a mess up to my shoulders, I was condemning this country and it's culture like one couldn't believe. Now, I'm warming back up to it. While I disagree with it's basic tenet of lying, I understand it. White lies are totally excused here, and sometimes more dark lies are too. Essentially, people are more worried about the relationship they have with people than anything else. We do the same thing when a friend of ours asks 'Do you like my new shirt?' and you really don't. We often praise it, or at least find a tasteful way of not fully endorsing it. Apply that same thinking to everything you say and do. You NEVER want to create discomfort or any sort of problems between two people. It's hard to deal with sometimes because people won't tell you things that you need to know because they're afraid you won't like it. It makes working with Chinese people challenging to say the least.

Mandarin: Well, while my life was in a whirlwind, not to mention Chinese New Year, I didn't schedule Mandarin classes. As such, my speaking ability has slipped as of late, not to mention I hated the language when I was in my 'Everything Chinese is awful' mood. Now, I've had two classes since getting back on track and I'm starting to appreciate it again. The need for writing characters has come up though more than ever. As we finish the first text book and head into the new one, our teacher told us that the new books won't be using Pinyin (the romanized spelling/pronunciation guide of Chinese words) For example, the books used to have 你好 and next to them Nì hăo (Hello). Now books won't have the later, yikes! It's like taking training wheels off the bike.

I think that's about all I can go into at the moment seeing as how this post has gotten really long (that's what she said). I'll try to update more often now that my life has regained some level of normalcy. Of course I do want to note that anyone who has my old address, should note the change or else you'll be mailing to my old company and I doubt they much want to hear my name. It was a messy break to say the least. I will say though, that I am much happier now and after I get a steady pay schedule and adjust my budget accordingly, I should be totally set. Also, I hope to update the blog every week. I know I've said that before, but now that I work on weekends and have Monday's off it might be easier. I never have anything to do during my days off because my friends are usually at work, so it's just easier to remember to do it. Cheers!