thoughts on my impending huijia
one: yes. i consider china my home. as much as i consider my father's. more than ny, or dc, or any other place i've lived (perhaps excluding oberlin). this is because china is where i CHOSE to live. and i chose to leave. but next spring i'll be going home.
anyway, i've been reading 7days, a weekly update from that's beijing. i've really been doing this ever since i've left, but more recently i've REALLY been reading it, so i'll be up to date on the restaurants and bars, hot spots, people and vibe of the city. and while reading today, i came across this news story
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/232122.htm
which is about the sex lives of farmers and migrant farmers in zhejiang province.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang
which is NOT that big a province as far as china is concerned. the 11th most populated, in fact. and there are 17.83 million farmers, almost 6 million of them migrant farmers. in ONE province.
according to the paper, if i'm reading it right, roughly 1.2% of migrant workers have extramarital affairs. which means there are at least 60,000 farmers in zhejiang province cheating. and frankly, i think it's probably higher, because i'm betting many people wouldn't admit to it if they were.
that's just...well...i don't know. it kind of disturbs and concerns me, i guess. especially considering how many of them turn to prostitutes, which in turn spreads disease throughout the community (because most of them go home to their wives at least once a year, and no one has interviewed their wives' take on fidelity, and so the chain goes)
anyway. that's what i've found myself thinking about tonight. easier than thinking about my impending unemployment, and i'm Not quite close enough to my vacation to start being excited about that.
off to watertown and ny tomorrow.
anyway, i've been reading 7days, a weekly update from that's beijing. i've really been doing this ever since i've left, but more recently i've REALLY been reading it, so i'll be up to date on the restaurants and bars, hot spots, people and vibe of the city. and while reading today, i came across this news story
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/232122.htm
which is about the sex lives of farmers and migrant farmers in zhejiang province.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang
which is NOT that big a province as far as china is concerned. the 11th most populated, in fact. and there are 17.83 million farmers, almost 6 million of them migrant farmers. in ONE province.
according to the paper, if i'm reading it right, roughly 1.2% of migrant workers have extramarital affairs. which means there are at least 60,000 farmers in zhejiang province cheating. and frankly, i think it's probably higher, because i'm betting many people wouldn't admit to it if they were.
that's just...well...i don't know. it kind of disturbs and concerns me, i guess. especially considering how many of them turn to prostitutes, which in turn spreads disease throughout the community (because most of them go home to their wives at least once a year, and no one has interviewed their wives' take on fidelity, and so the chain goes)
anyway. that's what i've found myself thinking about tonight. easier than thinking about my impending unemployment, and i'm Not quite close enough to my vacation to start being excited about that.
off to watertown and ny tomorrow.