Currently I’m enjoying my “staycation,” that buzz word that was all the rage last year or the year before. I really did get tired of travelling and living out of a backpack. Some people said I’d never settle down, they may still be right, but I’m glad I don’t have to pack my toothbrush again just yet. Some folks were wondering why I hadn’t seen much of China yet. Well, first, I had to work and, second, I wanted to experience staying in one place. 😀 Fortunately I had a friend visit in December and that forced me to get out more (we went to Xi’an!) which I’ll have to write about another time.
The semester is over and that means no more grading and, sadly, goodbyes. Some folks were in town only for one semester before moving back to their regular lives (or simply signed a one-semester contract) and now it’s goodbye dinners and farewells and “we’ll see each other again… sometime… hopefully.” Two things. I hate goodbyes cause they’re often short-lived. If you’ve travelled at all you’ll know that days will fly by anyway and, before you know it, you meet up again. It’s not goodbye, it’s just see you later. Maybe it’s just me but with the advent of social media it’s no longer “good bye,” it’s “see you online.” Your relationship moves from offline to online. Sure, 30 years ago when somebody said goodbye you might not see them or hear from them in quite some time. Nowadays, we’ll only lose touch when they tell you to shut off your cell phone for takeoff and landing, though I’m told some airlines have started offering onboard WIFI so even now, we’re still connected. Next, as a person who hasn’t really stayed in the same place for more than a few months over the last six years, goodbyes have become a routine occurrence and, if anything, have lost their meaning. It’s a fact of travelling so much that many of the people you will meet you will simply never see again.
Anyway, since the semester ended I’ve been able to read quite a bit, which is a relief. Being a writing professor requires reading a lot of rough drafts which can make your eyes go blurry. You might wonder how I can teach writing given that much of this site is rife with writing errors. Hey, even professional writers make mistakes and academic publications are incorrect from time to time. In any event, it’s nice to be able to just sit and read and not have to correct anything. Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth, Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, Paul Theroux’s The Great Railway Bazaar and I’m going to attempt J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit after a failed attempt to read Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. If I have time, I’ll try to add one or two more to that list.
Ah yes, and one more book. I picked up 101 Stories for Foreigners to Understand Chinese People by Yi S. Ellis and Bryan D. Ellis at a nifty bookshop called The Bookworm. (Apparently the store is pretty famous with its combination of bookstore, lending library, cafe and bar.) The book is helpful and I’ve enjoyed asking both my students and other Chinese folks I meet about the truth of what’s written in the book. There are the usual “Asianisms” such as overcharging foreigners (since foreigners are seen to have more money they must pay more), slurping soup, and singing with friends (known as “KTV” here in China but the rest of the world knows it as karaoke). Having been to Asia a few times already much of it I knew or understood, but there were some that caught me by surprise. For instance, apparently some places tape a coin to their calculator in an effort to bring good luck (p 129). Also, many students like to call me or other foreigners “fat”. The first time I heard that I was almost offended but now, meh, they may be right relative to the typical Chinese person. But according to this book, calling someone fat or saying that they’ve gained weight is actually a compliment. It’s not like China is devoid of fat people. Oh no, there are fat people. But “fat people” are usually fat because they eat well, which means they have money. Times are a changing, however, and as China welcomes the world Chinese people are learning that calling people “fat” often has a negative connotation to it.
Finally, I’ve been working on posting about previous trips, especially about Canada. I realize I’ve written a lot about other places I’ve visited but hardly anything about my home country.