World Class Adventurer
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i don't do bad sauce passes
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Keni

oozey mess
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
Sweet Seals For You, Always

Andulka
Misplaced Lens Cap

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"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"

祝日 / Permanent Vacation
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tannertan36

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@worldclassadventurer
World Class Adventurer
I’ve moved to my own domain.
Guest Post: Writing Through Chaos: Finding The Will To Write When Everything’s A Mess by Dee Em V…
(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8x5kmSHJJw)
The Road Back to China 我想回去中国
Western media would have many of you believing that China is heading face-first into some sort of economic depression that would decimate the world’s most powerful currencies. It’s nothing but pointless doomsday speak. I’m no economist but I can tell you that earning almost $40 an hour to teach English, $10-$300 an hour if you can book small singing gigs in lower tier cities and sing Chinese songs, or between $300-1500 as a foreign hostess at a KTV. There are still endless opportunities to live well in China.
Many people move to China because it’s possible to make a living, enjoy your life, and still have time for art. Full time teaching jobs allow two-hour lunch breaks and often pay for your housing. Those who go through the hassle of obtaining work visas can make a healthy income in Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen. So why the hell would I continue to live on the outskirts of Washington D.C. in NoVa where the buses hardly run?
I’m living off random temp work that only pays $12/hr. I got bills. $12/hr is not enough to live on in one of the most expensive states in the entire country. Granted, the area is doing well economically and if I had a car, I’d have more opportunities to get part time work. For $200 more per month, I could have lived near the metro in Alexandria. However, on unpredictable income, I felt it would be more responsible to just rent the cheapest place I could find. It’s worked out OK for me because of Uber, because there’s a grocery store within walking distance, and there’s an express bus to Pentagon station in D.C.
I haven’t gone out much since I’ve lived here and it’s been difficult to meet people because of my situation. I live in a rich neighborhood in the suburbs with an awesome Vietnamese family, I don’t have a car, and I need to go out every day. This place has served it’s purpose: a location for introspection so that I can finally have the opportunity to get some damn work done without a million and one distractions. I’ve mostly kept a low profile because I have a lot to do to prepare for this trip. I’m meeting my good friend Chloe in Nanchang and we’re gonna stack cash for this motherfucking hostel. I see this dream finally becoming a reality in China. In the U.S.? Forget it. There’s no way we’d be able to save enough start up capital.
Don’t get the wrong idea. I love America. It’s my home country and I’m really proud that I got to be a college student in the Obama era. He knows what it’s like to overcome a lot in his life and I respect the hell out of a man like that. Obama has made it possible for me to get a 10 year Chinese visa.
However, I’m also tired of feeling limited in my career options in the states. My creativity was so free in China. I could get a job fairly easily as a creative professional in Shanghai if I wanted to. I can go hang out with my old friends in Guiyang and eat street BBQ. I can walk, take taxis, and use public transportation everywhere. I can even own my own motorcycle without getting a license. China is the future.
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For the first time in US history, the Powerball sits at over 1.3 billion dollars. Come on, big money! 🍀 💰
I hate that I often have to get mean and nasty to get people to take me seriously. No means no. Stop pushing me.
I wish people would stop asking me where I think I’m going to be in 5 years. I don’t have 2020 vision.
We only have seven days to left reblog this joke
Merry Christmas!
"When I was a little girl 👧 I wanted to be a citizen of the world 🗽 Being busy with my job 💵 and my gay friends 😘 Laughing and drinking with my one night stands. 🍻" -CSS, City Girl
Today, I have been notified that I'll start a full-time long-term assignment with a consulting firm on Monday. I also still have work on the side. Between my full-time job and my freelance work, I'm gonna be doing really well for myself starting next month. Things have not been easy this past year but I would happily do it all over again just to get to this place in this moment right now. It wasn't easy for me to live in China without knowing their language or culture and try to find work on a tourist visa because I didn't have money to go home. However, I am so happy I went to China because all the skills I learned there have already helped me in the U.S. I have learned so much about the world and grown as a person. I am so thankful to my Dad for helping me get this place in Northern VA as well as my best friend, Clarese, for driving down here twice this month to help with transportation and other stuff. I am grateful for all the international friends I made during my time in Asia and I am excited for the future. Cheers to 2015! Let it go out with a bang!
My 2015 Year in Review
Overall, this has been a really good year. Lemme’ recap it for you.
1. January: I began working part-time at an English training center called Hampson in Guangzhou. I learned how part-time teaching jobs work and most importantly, I learned how to teach one-on-one.
2. February: Guangzhou East Railway station held a line that went on for blocks as many of the city’s residents prepared to return to their hometown for the Spring Festival. I learned about the history of the Spring Festival and watched as Tianhe district slowly emptied. My Chinese roommate at that time -- a mid-30s career woman with seven cats -- took me to the flower market where we bought some things to decorate the house. We made hot pot and watched Chinese TV. I spent the last week of the month in Hong Kong, unsuccessfully applying for my work visa. I returned to the mainland with my tourist visa on the 28th and went back to the agency for training on the same day.
3. March: After two and a half months of waiting, I finally began a new full time teaching assignment. In addition to my full time job, I continued to work part time on evenings and weekends. My commute to the Huangpu district from my hostel in Tianhe took over an hour by metro but I always made it on time. I just felt so happy to finally have enough work.
4. April: I finally received the salary from my full time job and rented a studio near my full-time job with Bo, a Chinese guy I met at the hostel. We lived together in harmony. He cooked and cleaned while I worked full time. We talked about all manner of philosophical things. He was the best lover I ever had. He made me so happy and my life felt so full.
5. May: By mid-terms, things started to go south with my health and my teaching assignment. I developed recurrent UTIs that put me in the hospital on several occasions. My mental health suffered without my lexapro rx. My co-teacher became vindictive and aggressive, taking over my classes then claiming that I wasn’t doing enough. The agency started sending me unsettling messages, micro-managing me, and sitting in on my classes constantly. They claimed I wasn’t “active enough” even though I always smiled, talked to the kids in the hallways, and taught class no matter how sick I felt. I only took one sick day because they were going to film my class and I knew they’d pick me apart mercilessly. Bo did his best to console me but I feared that my declining health had become a burden on him. Chinese doctors in Guangzhou seemed unable to help me. I spent thousands of RMB on ineffective treatment. At this point, I realized I wanted to leave Guangzhou. I figured that perhaps the food and environment didn’t agree with me.
6. June: My part-time jobs had dried up and the semester came to an end on the 19th. By this point, I was so fed up with the damn agency, Guangzhou, and my school that I couldn’t wait to leave. I kissed Bo goodbye at the train station and took the high speed rail to Guiyang. As I stepped off the train, I immediately noticed that the air was cleaner than Guangzhou and the weather was cool and clear. I hopped a cab to my new house with the KTV girls, including Chloe, who I’d met in Guangzhou. The elevator in the complex was dirty and slow, taking at least five minutes to reach our floor. The apartment had no fridge, no washing machine, and no household appliances. Chloe taught me how to hand-wash my clothing. A few days later, Chloe and I got kicked out of the house for working at another KTV. We checked into a hotel for the remainder of the month.
7. July: Guiyang was paradise compared to Guangzhou. An average summer day felt like springtime. The windows could stay open all day and night. A t-shirt and jeans could get you through the whole season just fine. The food held bold spicy flavors, comparable to Sichuan, and eating vegetarian was easy. I interviewed for a high school in Guiyang but decided not to take the job as no other foreigners worked in the school and a work visa would be required, which the owner had no prior experience handling. Chloe got cheated by the KTV and left for another province. I continued to live in a hostel, work in the KTV, and stash cash.
8. August: My Chinese tourist visa would soon expire and I wasn’t that determined to renew it after all the hell I went through trying to get a work visa in February. I went back to Guangzhou to see Bo one last time before I left the country. At the airport, I hugged him tightly. Upon looking at the flight list, I realized that my eyesight had become rather poor. I couldn’t read the arrivals or departures. After almost 25 years on this earth, it was time to get glasses. I flew from Guangzhou to Singapore where I spent four marvelous days in a gorgeous hostel. I met a German guy there who went with me to do all the touristy things. From Singapore, I flew to Phuket, Thailand and stayed in another amazing hostel. I saw my one of my Chinese teachers whom I’d met in Guangzhou. They showed me around the Chinatown in Phuket and we had a wonderful time. Then I went out and bought my first pair of glasses. Two days later, I traveled with a British girl to the island of Koh Phagnon for the famed Full Moon Party that happens once a month. We rented a bungalow for the weekend but she proved too crazy to stay with. She literally slept on the remote for the AC and when asked, pretended not to hear me! So, I went up the road to a hostel, paid a fee for one night and then made my way to Bangkok where I stayed in a 5-star hotel for $50.
9. September: I flew from Bangkok to Manila in the Philippines. I spent all my time in Manila, partying and doing the free walking tours. I don’t regret a damn thing. After three days, I flew to Taipei, Taiwan: the last stop on my southeast Asia journey. Everything about Taipei intrigued me: the kind people, the cleanliness, the fact that I could use Mandarin there. It was then that I realized I had to get my next overseas teaching assignment in Taipei. On September 11, I flew back to the U.S. into LAX and ended up staying with my aunt and uncle in Fontana. Fontana is a nowhere, bumbafuck, nothing-to-do town in SoCal and I couldn’t stand it. I bought a one-way plane ticket to JFK.
10. October: Public transport in Cali is abysmal so I went to LA to get my first rental car, which ate up the entirety of my remaining savings. I drove around with a gay guy from London and tried to make some money but to no avail. I ran out of money and had to return the rental two days before my flight. I spent one night on the subway platform and the next day I slept on Redondo Beach. When I finally got on the plane back to New York, I cried tears of joy. For the first time in over a year, I got to see my best friend. Zen Haus had gone to shit. They survived a bedbug crisis that had subsided a few months before I got there. As a result, most of their furniture was gone so that meant no couch for me to sleep on. My bestie shared her bed with me and they allowed me to stay for over a month. I owe them everything. I immediately tried to find work in NYC but nothing came through, nor did anything come through upstate. I felt frustrated so I thought about moving to another city.
11. My bestie and I took a 10-day road trip to Washington DC. We loved this place and we saw that the business is much better here. I started to contact landlords in the area and put a security deposit down on a place as soon as I could. I spent Thanksgiving with a dear friend upstate who has always opened her door to us. We ate, drank, and got a bit too merry. Try as a I may, I couldn’t earn enough for the rent on my own. Regrettably, I had to phone home. That was the second time this year that my dad has had to help me with housing and I feel fucking awful. I vowed to try my damn hardest to get my shit together. I interviewed with NYCTF and I’m sure it went fairly well. Everything I learned in China prepared me for that interview. Getting my official teaching license became my top priority.
12. After months of not having a stable roof over my head, I felt overjoyed to move into this room in the DC suburbs. I’m still unemployed but looking hard for a job even though it’s stressful as all fuck. I’m looking for tutoring opportunities or anything that I can bike or take the metro to. On Thursday, my bestie is bringing me a bike and a bag of the good stuff which will at least temporarily relieve my anxiety. I’m still waiting on the official answer from NYCTF.
Read this Before You Teach in China
The other day I got in touch with one of my former coworkers from Guangzhou. She’s a girl from Florida and pretty much every time I talk to her I get angry because she always has some judgmental shit to say to me. She isn’t someone you can keep it real with. In fact, she isn’t someone I even like. In fact, I kinda hate her. However, there weren’t many people to talk to in the area where I lived and worked and I need someone to use as a reference for future jobs. I didn’t have anyone to guide me through this frustrating and confusing process of working abroad. So, I’d like to help anyone that I can.
Finding the Right Job
If you’re from an English-speaking country, especially the U.K. or the U.S., you can expect to earn a fairly good salary in China if you find the right school to work for directly on a proper work visa. There are some who work for agencies and haven’t faced any serious problems. Those people are experienced and probably a bit lucky.
Usually as a general rule of thumb, agencies in developing countries are bad news. They will almost always exploit you and you have the responsibility of being vigilant to protect yourself. The best type of schools are international schools in big cities with Monday-Friday schedules. Any decent job should provide you with a work visa, health insurance, airfare reimbursement, a competitive salary, and control over your own classroom. The easiest way to get this sort of job is to apply in your own country first. Use the big websites like tefl.com and research every school or company you apply to. Many foreigners will also take on part-time jobs on evenings and weekends at various training centers.
Making Friends
My story is very different from a lot of first-world expats in China. Most of the people I met are from well-to-do families. They haven’t experienced poverty or serious hardships. They can call home for a plane ticket at any time if they’re unhappy. And to be honest, most of them kinda suck. They’re very flaky -- because the Chinese tend to be very flaky -- and immersing yourself in that culture for long enough has a way of changing you.
In big cities, expat bars and clubs can be a great way to meet other English speakers. In small towns or villages, you may be limited to less foreigners than you can count on two hands. For example, in Yangjiang, a small town, I only knew ten foreigners and most of them hailed from Eastern Europe. There was only one other American there. He worked for a factory and was much older than me. I consider him a good friend and I’m very glad I met him.
If you’re looking to make life-long friendships with other expats, China is the wrong place to go. Basically, everyone is out for themselves and most people only care about earning money. There are exceptions, of course, and luckily I have found a few like that American guy in Yangjiang and the military girl I met in Guangzhou. As you can see, none of my real expat friends from China are English teachers. Keep in mind that some of these countries will take any weirdo with a college degree who can speak English so you will run into your fair share of people who make you shake your head or just plain make you wanna rage quit.
As for making friends with the Chinese, you will meet many people who will buy you drinks in bars, smile at you, and take selfies with you to post on WeChat. These people are not your friends. They just want to show off how “cool” and “international” they are. Out of the hundreds of Chinese people I have met, only two can be considered actual friends. Their names are Chloe and Bo. Both of them speak excellent English, have a college education, and have spent time living abroad in Western countries.
In other countries, cohesiveness can be found among expat/immigrant populations from similar countries. That attitude about “helping one’s fellow brethren and sistren” doesn’t seem to exist among foreigners in China. It’s every man and woman for themselves. Sink or swim.
Legal
If you’re used to getting by in a developed country, then you know that things tend to be pretty straightforward and if a company tries to cheat you, you’ve got legal recourse and possibly some hefty compensation coming your way. However, the Chinese legal system only serves to benefit the Chinese. Keep in mind that China is a homogeneous country and their sense of national identity is strong. Finding an English-speaking lawyer is tough, even in a big city. If you wish to start a business in China, you will need to find an English law firm which specializes in helping foreigners.
Daily Life
If you’re accustomed to places like Japan, the U.S., or the U.K. where things can usually be taken at face-value, you’re in for a rude awakening in China. Regard everything you hear as false until the person can prove otherwise. Be aware that merchants, taxi drivers, and vendors regularly try to cheat foreigners, especially in the countryside in South China.
You will need a VPN to access all websites we rely on in the West. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and pretty much everything except for WeChat, Weibo, and Baidu are blocked. Chinese apps have few things to offer English speakers, with the exception of WeChat which is actually an excellent app. At the time of this writing, the best working VPN is ExpressVPN which costs about $50 for six months. The Chinese government is lax about VPN usage, especially among foreigners, so don’t worry about getting in trouble.
If your job doesn’t provide housing and you need to rent an apartment, ask a Chinese person to rent it in their name and take pictures to send you. Many landlords refuse to rent to foreigners or charge exorbitant rates because they assume that all foreigners are rich.
Food varies widely from region to region. China has some of the most diverse and delicious cuisines of any country in the world. If spicy food is your thing, try Sichuan or Guizhou food. The food in Guangdong province doesn’t have a lot of flavor and can be described as “boiled meat and vegetables plopped onto a plate with no seasoning”. On a foreigner’s salary, you never have to cook for yourself if you don’t want to. Eating out is cheap and can be done for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on less than 50 RMB a day if you’re smart. If you enjoy cooking, keep in mind that many Chinese kitchens don’t have ovens so you’ll need to purchase a toaster oven if you bake. If you want items like butter, cheese, or milk you need to go to the big international supermarkets in major cities. Ingredients for Western dishes like French Toast or steak or bacon can prove difficult to find. Dry ingredients can be purchased online via Taobao.
Bargaining is the most important skill to have in China or throughout most of Asia for that matter. Prices are not fixed and you are expected to bargain almost anywhere. If you can’t speak Mandarin, the first thing you should learn are the numbers and their hand gestures for various numbers. Learn to count to 1000 before you learn anything else. It’ll save you a lot of money.
Bring a pack of pocket tissues everywhere you go as most public restrooms will not stock toilet paper. Toilets are usually squat toilets and the floors are always wet. If you’re wondering whether it’s water or pee, you’ll never know.
Language
China, like many other Asian countries, has an official language and several local languages that are spoken in the countryside. Most Chinese people can speak Mandarin, the official language, as well as their local dialect. Another major Chinese dialect is Cantonese which is spoken in Guangdong province and Hong Kong. Cantonese is an incredibly difficult language and taking the time to learn it is not recommended, unless you plan to spend your entire life in Guangdong or Hong Kong. Some foreigners who’ve learned Mandarin prior to moving to Cantonese regions express frustration at communication difficulties. If you’re trying to learn Mandarin, go anywhere except for Guangdong province.
There are over 300 million English speakers in China. Most of them can be found in major cities. However, due to a lack of exposure to foreigners and Western media, very few Chinese people can speak English well. Be prepared for a lot of weird grammar mistakes. Speak slowly and use simple English unless you’re sure that the other person is highly fluent.
Culture
Chinese people always smile even if they don’t want to. They will act kind no matter what they think of you. Unlike in Western countries, facial expressions and mannerisms cannot clue you in on how the other person feels. This can be very confusing for most foreigners. The only thing you can do is mirror them. Smile even when you don’t want to, don’t lose your temper even when they try to provoke you, and make sure you have at least one real friend you can vent to from time to time.
People will spit everywhere. People will pull down their childrens’ pants and allow them to piss and shit on the sidewalk. People will sneeze and cough without covering their mouths. They will drive on sidewalks, talk loudly on their phones, smoke indoors, argue over small amounts of money, etc. If you’re a girl, expect used pads to litter bathroom stalls.
A lot of traditional Chinese culture has been lost due to communism. If you’re curious about this, ask people from Hong Kong or Taiwan, read a history book, or go to Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Singapore. You will note that there is a BIG difference between ethnic Chinese and mainland Chinese people. Hong Kongers, Singaporeans, and Taiwanese generally regard themselves and their countries as superior to Mainland China. This is entirely subjective and I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with it. It’s something you’ll truly have to see for yourself.
Looking for Love
If you’re a straight white man from a developed country, expect to find a girlfriend with ease. If you’re an androgynous brown person like me, expect to face many difficulties in the dating realm. Chinese culture is very conservative, with a heavy emphasis on marriage and children. Chinese girls are expected to obey their fathers until they marry. Then they are essentially the property of their husbands. A lot of emphasis is placed on hyper-femininity among women. If you “aren’t girly enough” or too independent, expect to be rejected by most Chinese men. In big cities, you can find some progressive thinkers who might give it a shot, but it’s hard to be sure if they like you for your personality or because their status is raised when they’re dating a foreigner.
I had quite a few lesbians and bi girls express interest in dating me. However, despite the absence of overt violence towards LGBT people, you can thank Confucianism for LGBT people staying underground instead of in the mainstream. Even if gay marriage is legal in your own country -- as it is in mine -- it’s not legal in China. Gay people are often forced by their families into straight marriages to make babies to carry on the family name. There are a lot of “hush hush” agreements among certain married couples that their “straight” marriage is just for show and they’ll be seeing people of the same gender on the side. Being openly gay is more acceptable in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai, but if their family is from the countryside, you won’t be meeting them.
Though it’s impossible for an article of this length to detail everything you need to know about China, I hope that it can help someone who plans to make that journey. A well-planned trip can make a world of a difference between living it up and pure suffering. Good luck and enjoy the best of China!
Watch: Bill Nye uses science to defend women’s reproductive rights.
To paraphrase Jamie Lano, the only professional American mangaka to work in Tokyo "I have never been so miserable but the artist in me is satisfied."
This is my breakfast at 7pm. I'm an adult.