Prepare for a rant ...
The tiny annoyances that I found amusing at first are now, every single one of them, unbearable. The smells from below the sidewalk, the pushiness of people, the general disorderliness. I am ready to leave all of it.
Although there is much I will miss about this year (mainly my students), there is plenty I won't miss. For one, I won't miss having cigarette smoke hanging in the air wherever I am. I won't miss the smell of beetlenut. I won't miss the early morning sound of my upstairs neighbor clearing his throat and then heaving a heavy wad of spit somewhere over my head. I won't miss bathrooms in China.
China is a developing country, I remind myself. Hygiene standards are obviously not what they are in the United States. But there are some things people can do to make life cleaner and healthier. (For example, babies can wear diapers and not piss and shit in the street.)
Recently a restaurant manager asked me when I thought China would catch up with America in development. We were talking about how quickly China was changing, with all the new buildings and roads.
"Do you think in thirty years?" he asked.
"Maybe," I said with fake optimism.
The truth of what I was thinking was that China could develop all it wanted, but there were still fundamental problems with human rights and the environment. Tall buildings and new highways do not alone make for a developed country.
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I have so much enjoyed your blog. My husband and I spent a month teaching English at a private summer school in Lengshuijiang last July. I was quite surprised to see that you are teaching one of my former students, Alice (The Joy of Cooking and last pen pal photos.) This was my first trip to China, but my husband's 10th. He has taught in both small cities and large ones, and while they were all different experiences, he found Lengshuijiang to be pretty underdeveloped compared to the others. We are getting ready to return to China to teach for a month in Heibe. After spending a year mulling over our last trip, I can't wait to go back. I still have mixed feelings about last year's trip, though with the passing of time, they are mostly positive. I am interested in seeing if this second trip will give me any clarity on the first. You'd think that I could compare the two trips and draw some conclusions, but with China, more time and experience may be needed.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for such an entertaining read. I certainly admire your persistence, both in teaching in China for a year and in keeping you blog! Best wishes!
Okay, as far as I know you are staying in China my Jolie. Has something changed that I would love to know? hugs
ReplyDeleteThanks for following the blog, jla. What a coincidence about Alice! She had mentioned to me a former teacher had seen my blog. Best wishes to you and your husband on your next adventure in China.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Patti, you're right. Technically I will be in China, but I consider going to Taiwan the same as leaving China. Taiwan is a lot more developed and, on top of that, I will be moving from a small town here to a big city (Taipei) over there.
got it
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