it begins

Made it here.

The house is nice enough. A little small, and kind of far from the center of the city, but the building is new, the area seems safe, and a bus runs from the front of my house to downtown, so no real complaints.

The other foreign teacher seems very cool, and has been a blast. It seems we'll be living our separate lives, but hanging out together some of the time, which is the ideal. He also seems to be a competent teacher who plans on taking no bs from the school, so we seem to be on the same page.

I found out you can own and operate an elecric scooter in town without a driver's license or license plate, and they cost less than 1/3 of a month's pay. Being off the beaten path means its likely I'll have one in a month or two, maybe earlier depending on how my career as a model goes.

What's that you say? Yeah, I've been approached about modelling. I thought it was my rugged good looks they wanted, but it seems they just want to show that even I can sit on a chair without it breaking. Still, how many of you were offered a modelling job his week. They might also use me in a Harley Davidson ad campaign, which is far more respectable. It also means I'll be buying an electric scooter with money from Harley. Odd. Hopefully, modelling and teaching won't interfere with my career writing a tv show.

Oh yeah, I might be writing a tv show about a foreigner adjusting to life in China, a topic i understand fairly well. It's in the idea stage now, but it seems to be a serious idea. I'd like to be able to take China, show how its seen through our round eyes, and distort that through a funhouse mirror. I'm 95% sure my favorite ideas will end up on the cutting room floor, as they wouldn't entertain the Chinese people involved. I'll probably discuss it further as we plan my career in film.

Yeah, I'm likely going to have a very minor part in some Chinese comedy. I think I'm a gambler in Macu or something. They wanted to know if I'm happier delivering a few lines in Cantonese, Portugese or English. Odd question.

I had my first class today. Most of them seem bright and enthusiastic. Some seem painfully shy. A little better than expected. I didn't get the books until this morning, so it was tricky teaching for 90 minutes with no real plan, but I think it went fairly well. I only have about 5 or 6 weeks of class, but would like to accomplish something useful this term. I worry sometimes that perhaps only the students and i care.

The University didn't do a lot to instill confidence before I came, and aren't doing much to do so now. I had a monstrous time getting a visa, and they are in no rush to convert my visa into a multiple entry visa. Meaning that if there's any problems that arise after I have made plans to travel outside the country, I may not be able to be here when classes begin. I also received an apartment that had no means of cooking in an area with no real restaurants. Getting an advance on my pay is proving tough as well.

I guess if things don't work out, I can try to become a full time actor/writer/model.

That's my first four days in a nutshell. Should be a good time.

quick Hong Kong notes

Notice is hereby given to the guys on every street corner in the tsim Tsa Tsui area: I do not wish to buy a copy Rolex, regardless of how cheap it is. Feel free to ask other people.

Addendum: I am interested in buying smelly tofu. Very interested.


Imagined conversation a few weeks back.

"Hey, do you think we could make a lot of money selling bootleg Obama merchandise?"

"Why, yes, we can!"

The stench of home

I am sitting in a place with free, fast wifi, so you know I didn't make it to the mainland. Being in Hong Kong isn't something I'm gonna complain about.

I spent the flight pushing a large guy off me. Consider my build, and imagine what he must look like. So after 16 hours of him oozing into myspace, I'm rather stinky. I missed being on the last bus to the mainland, so some lucky folk dodged a bullet there. I wouldn't want to share a bus with me for 5 hours.

So, tomorrow I'm off to Zhongshan. No idea when I'll post again, but hopefully it will be next week. I think I'll be wanting internet access soon

in passing

I still am in the USA. I (perhaps foolishly) believe I will be in china soon.
Voted today. Give it a shot, particularly if we agree on most issues.

that's that

Back after a few days off. And we're now done. Time to frcye myself to wii, drunkenness, the china trip and sleeping I til noon. Check back in August.

uhhhhhhhh

I'm at home, laying on the couch enjoying my new favorite drink: nyquil. I am very happy that most days I didn't want to go to work, I sucked it up and went, because I may take the last 6 days off. This lung infection is no joke.

I'm also pretty glad I went to work the last two days. Yesterday was a field trip to clean up a beach. I was not in charge, just tagging along as a chaperone. They did a crummy job, but apparently that was expected. Afterwards, there was a barbecue and basketball, when they rediscovered their energy. It's not often I can watch them just act like normal teenagers.
Today, we went to a small art gallery, where they were very well behaved.we then went for Chinese food, which was great. They ate weird things, tried to use chopsticks, and tried to use Chinese words the waiters and I taught them. We went to a park, and they played ball again, before we went home. Two kids had tried to leave (a story that is long and makes me far too angry to tell), but were brought back safely. Prior to that, it was one of my favorite days with them, despite the illness. If I don't improve enough next week to return to work, it's a great end to the school year.
Hopefully, no one notices the missing paperwork, or it's forgotten in the fall. Cough cough cough.naptime.

eww

I seem to have some sort of lung infection. When you combine that with the mold that infests this building, you get a very ill teacher. Hopefully, I'll make it through the day, finish entering missing attendance, enter grades, update goals, and spend the next two days on field trips. Or I'll miss most of the last week. Whatever