Sunday, December 10, 2006

A Piece of Peace Marks the End of Daze.

This post is coming to you from Matt's computer. Matt is my friend who lives in Pudong, Shanghai and teaches math at an international school. He's cool. And his girlfriend, KateLynn, is the funniest and prettiest girl in China. I laugh all the time with her. Just getting her to tell a traditional Chinese folk tale is all I need to get through the stress and hustle and bustle of crowded Shanghai. Matt's real lucky. KateLynn is too - Matt is calm and never bothered by too much. These are the qualities I aspire to have. I am getting close, but there's always work to be done when you're working on yourself, right? They let me stay on their couch every weekend for which I am grateful. And the rest of China is grateful as well because i can get to my support group twice in stead of once. I need all the help I can get to keep from going NYer on this crazy country. I have only given one dirty look to a honking car. That's progress.
What a difference a day and a good meal makes. Last week I was hungry, angry, lonely and tired. This is a recipe for indecisive and all-around short-tempered feelings. But, today I was re-reading my previous whiny post and most of my problems have been mollified. Whew!!
  • My Internet connection has not gone down since I discovered the problem.
  • I got some long underwear to keep warm.
  • I learned that I can leave my scooter at the train station in a scooter parking lot so that I need not rely on taxis.
  • My bad haircut has almost grown out and I bought some hats while I wait.
  • I continue to make it to the gym and workout. And I am even making more new friends. I tried Ping Pong and was completely embarrassed and humiliated. But I didn't give up and soon I was smashing them back at my opponents.
  • And it has stopped raining as frequently as it has been. Its good to be able to dry out for a bit.
Soon I will start planning my month long vacation - ahh, the life! I am interested in finding out how the Chinese enjoy snowboarding up north. And then spending all my money relaxing on the beaches of the South China Sea. I guess I really search out the diversity in every situation. I like differences, same is a little monotonous. Gotta keep busy and try not to miss out - I am definitely affected by HTMS (Hate To Miss Syndrome).
Still, I miss Sam more and more every day. I recently got a picture or two from him, and boy, he looks good! Hey honey - its been four months already. It has gone by so quickly. We can make it, don't you worry!
As for Christmas, I want to hear what you want. Tell me what would make your xmas fun and memorable. I want cash to pay my bills back home in the US. I know it sounds very materialistic, but the peace of mind I get when my bills are current is priceless. Here's to peace and serenity. Love, Evan.

4 comments:

kali-lu said...

I was always jealous of people wearing hats - I thought they were cool. Now I think maybe they just had a really bad hair cut once and got used to wearing hats to cover it up. Don't worry, this thought does not make wearing hats any less cool.

Hatty Holidays!

Unknown said...

Hi Evan.

So, a few things.

My Chinese students are my favorite. I have to stop them from standing up when I come into the room, and from calling me "professor." They think it's rude when the Americans eat in class. And most are eager to practice English. I would definitely consider retiring to China if it weren't going to be so expensive.

And yes, my Chinese students have admitted that dogs make it to the menu in China, but whoever tells me this insists it only occurs in "another" part of China -- not the one he or she comes from.

I love the image of you speeding around your Chinese suburb on a Vespa; but, honey, I don't care what kind of haircut you got -- the wind is just not blowing through your hair. Unless the water in China cures baldness. In which case I am joining you shortly.

It sounds like you are having a great time, and all those classes on teaching English are coming in handy. I've been playing twenty questions with my ESL students to try to get them to sort out word order in interrogative statements, and they like it a lot better than lessons from books.

And yes, you do look hunky. I rejoined the gym, but I don't go. So.

I miss you. Bob Ed and I go out to dinner, but it's not the same without you. When you get lonely, think of me!

Things are good. I'm going back to grad school --you inspired me. I figured if I could rewrite your papers, I can write my own. ;-)

Meanwhile, I am still teaching and editing. Don't write to me at this google address -- use my old aol address.

I got your text message: it was great to hear from you.

xxoo

--aM
Andrew

Anonymous said...

Evan,

Fun post. I'm glad to hear that you're adjusting to the big city. So they have snowboarding in China? Who knew?!

Stateside, Leigh Ann called me re: medical editing. It was SO nice to hear from her after all these years and she also sent me here, to your blog. I just saw Sandra at a freelance gig tonight too.

Anyway, I enjoyed meeting Sam at Hunter last winter and hope to see you guys in 8 months or so.

Hang in there and keep writing.

Aaron M.
http://aaroniously-yours.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Hey Evan,

I love reading your posts. I find myself laughing...or fighting back the tears (esp. when you mention Sam and how much you miss him and to think of you not being warm enough), then jealous that you have a Vespa and I don't. Yes, I'm playing gigs again. New songs, too. One is about lovers trapped on a water tower during a tornado. Yep. Twisted as always. Could you send me a mailing address? And thanks for the birthday message and text message. I love you. Stay warm. La La