Wednesday, June 10, 2009

US checklist

Things to do when in the US:
Eat cheese, drink micro brews, eat Mexican food, eat pizza, eat rare beef, have cocktails with tonic, watch Youtube, pet dogs and cats, drive, look at fat people, play golf, swim in cold water, camp, watch bad American TV, use a knife and fork, eat dill pickles, raft, cross streets in an orderly manner, and marvel at all the efficiency and waste.
Of course spend tons of time loving loving all my relatives and friends.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Rainy thoughts

Loves me some tropical rain. It has been a hot and muggy day today, but it has been raining like the proverbial cow for the last hour with lots of close by lightening.
We should be coming back to the US for a few weeks at the end of the month. My employer wants me back teaching next year, and since the economy in Oregon is what economists refer to as "really shitty", it will be back to the PRC in August.
I have really enjoyed my time here. There are some annoying things, mostly related to the internet, and the fact that my laptop has Windows Vista, which has to be the Chevy Vega of operating systems.
There are so many things here that are alien. Things happen in a way that can only be described as organized chaos. The years I spent trying to figure out efficient ways of doing stuff have all been for naught. Stores and restaurants have zillions of employees. Tardiness is the norm. Trying to organize an event involving a number of people feels like herding cats. Self policing makes up most of the policing that happens here. Something surprising happens almost every day.
A lot has happened in the US in the last six months, not a lot of it good. A lot of bad things are happening to good people. I feel lucky to have made an unconventional move that actually seems to have worked.