Ramble On

Unlike other posts, this one will be generally unedited and mostly a stream of consciousness. I tend to prefer slightly more polish on my dispatches, but I really just want to get a few thoughts out there (maybe for future revision and rewriting) as I prepare to leave Shenzhen.

As irregular as my posts have been in the past few months, they may be even more sporadic in the coming weeks. I will be leaving Shenzhen on Tuesday. Hopefully, I can couchsurf for a few nights in Hong Kong while I wait for my tourist visa to process--otherwise, I will be finding a cheap room in the Chungking Mansion. After 3-4 days of personal processing and visa processing, I will catch a bus to Yangshuo to begin a 3-week stay with a tai chi school. By the end of June, I will be back in Shenzhen to retrieve a few belongings for a move to the north: Nanjing. July 1-6, I will be hanging-out in Nanjing, meeting some supervisors for my new teaching position, and moving-in for the fall. July 6th, I fly back to Hong Kong to catch my July 7th return-to-the-U.S. flight. 7/7-12: NYC. 7/13-15: Florida. 7/15-23: Denver, CO. 7/24-29: MI and Chicago. 7/30-8/4: Denver. 8/5: Back to Shanghai.

Eye on the ball

I am thinking a lot about forward motion.

Dear China: A series of open letters to all things China (pt. 1)

Dear Chinese citizens,

I am sorry if I did not seem happy when I said, "Hello!" I sincerely regret any tone of agitation or passive-aggressive curtness. I promise it is not personal. In fact, I swear that you could have run ahead twenty feet and asked one of the 100 people standing there if I was a warm person; each one of those 100 people said "hello" to me and received a pleasant response. Maybe if you time your day to be five-seconds earlier next time, you too will receive a smile with my "hello."

Looking for the elusive Chinese jam

I'll make you a deal: If you stop me and say "Hello, smile!" I promise to follow your command/request. Deal? Deal.

-Elie

P.S. I realize now that you may struggle to say "smile" because of that nagging final consonant--especially since it is an "L." Consider our deal to be more of a challenge. But at least it is a challenge for all parties: If you pronounce the word correctly, I'll continue to be both the dog and the pony.

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Dear enjoyable Chinese music scene,

Where are you?

-Elie

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