Have you seen Putin sing?
Is the question my friend asked me today. I hadn't, then I did, now you will.
Is there a way to make embedded videos a little smaller? I feel like they're a bit of an eyesore. Ah well.
*****
I've been chronically tired lately. I got into a really bad sleep cycle over the Chinese New Year and I'm still not out of it. I can't get to sleep before 1 AM at night, but then have to get up at 7:00 for work. I get through on copious amounts of coffee and tea, but it's still hard. I always end up doing my eye makeup in the bus or cab, and of course I end up in the ones with the most brake-happy drivers.
*deep breath* Calm, must be calm.
*****
I think I have tutoring later today. It's with a new family that I'm not altogether sure about. They're extremely wealthy and the kids are spoiled brats. Their dad pulled me aside when I was interviewing for the job and said that he mostly wanted me to work on improving their character, i.e. get them to be nicer kids. But, we always have sessions in their house, where their mom and nannies are around to cater to their every whim. There's no way I can effectively teach them in that environment.
When I say the kids are spoiled brat, I guess I'm being a bit unfair. They're both sweet kids, an 8 year-old boy and 6 year-old girl. Their parents work them to death though. They live in Shenzhen, but go to school in Hong Kong. Let me 'splain a bit. SZ are often referred to as twin cities, like Minneapolis/St. Paul. But there's a big difference. Hong Kong is still its own... municipality (or something, I'm not clear on this). Essentially Chinese citizens have to pass through immigration to go to HK and vice versa. I'm American so I can go into HK any time I want, but have to have a visa to come back into China.
It's also still quite far away from SZ. The kids have to spend at least 3 hours (more with traffic) on the road to and from HK every single day. They also have to take all these supplemental classes, like math/science, kung fu, dance, musical instruments. Whenever I carve out an hour or two of their time, they seem to be completely burnt out.
They also live quite far away from me too, an average cab trip will cost 40 yuan. The mom covers my cab costs, but I'm wondering if its worth the time I spend in transit to teach "character" to these kids who probably won't even be listening to me. Keep in mind, I also work another part-time tutoring job and a full-time job at a school. I may be overstretching myself.
*****
Complaining is over and done with. I'm going to release my negativity. One of my best friends from uni is coming to visit me in a few weeks, and I'm going to take her all around China. I think the best part about living here is how easy it is to save and travel cheaply. Yesterday I spent around 50 RMB total for the entire day, subway, lunch, cab, dinner. According to google, 50 RMB = $7.05. Hellz. Yes.
*****
Day 03 - Friendships in your life that have had a great impact on you.
Yeah, I'm not gonna post a picture of my friends. That would mean I'd have to choose between friends, and that's not on.
Instead, I'll write about the most important friendships in my life. There are 4 major phases.
1. Childhood - When I was growing up in Atlanta I had a close circle of four friends who were also the children of my parent's good friends. We were all Chinese and we did everything outside of school together. Chinese school, Chinese dance, family vacations, after school, you name it. We've all drifted a bit since then, as is natural, but I consider them to be my sisters, and I miss them all the time.
2. High School - I had a bit of an shy, awkward phase where I didn't have too many friends. Then I went to high school, and came out of my shell. This is when I realized my fondness for gay male friends and theirs for me in return. I didn't like to align myself with any particular clique in school, so I had friends in many different groups.
3. Freshman year of college - This is one of those unpleasant things that don't kill you but make you stronger. I got to college and made friends with a group of girls. In particular I was very close with two other Chinese-American girls. Before long though, the whole group started excluding me from things and avoiding me. I was baffled and hurt, and ended up cutting off all communication with them. Later, once I had found another group of friends (who I'm still close with today) I asked one of the girls in the first group why they'd so brutally ostracized me. Her exact words were, "Well, you have to understand, some people have habits that annoy the pet peeves of other people." Dumbfounded, I asked what those habits were. If there was something about me that put people off I wanted to know dammit! She refused to answer, saying "it's hard to pinpoint."
If it's hard to pinpoint then why cut someone out of the group so ruthlessly?! In hindsight, I'm so glad I didn't stay friends with them longer. Instead of trying to fit into their idea of coolness and change myself, I found a group of friends who embrace my dorkiness and who I'm proud to know.
4. Junior/Senior year of college - I became intense friends with one of my junior year roommates halfway through the year. We were glued at the hip, peas in a pod, all that jazz. It was strange because we were entirely opposite in some aspects of our personality. We even took a cross-country road trip together, and only got mad at each other once. But then senior year came along and we became busy with our own things and didn't have enough time to hang out. Small grievances turned into grudges and we ended up not talking for a while. After finally having an emotional and tearful talk, we decided to be roommates and not stuck together. She helped me through one of the toughest times of my life, I still talk to her though when I can, and I still see her as one of my best friends.
And where does that leave me now? I have a few good work friends and other expats who I hang out with. But so far no one who could belong on this list. I miss having people I can call up and say, "hey, let's hang out!" People here are busy with their own lives, and to be honest, so am I. I guess that's why I'm increasing my online life. I spend a lot of time talking with old friends on Gchat. In fact, I probably talk to them even more than I did when I lived close to them.
Wow, now that was a real ramble.
Click to viewIs there a way to make embedded videos a little smaller? I feel like they're a bit of an eyesore. Ah well.
*****
I've been chronically tired lately. I got into a really bad sleep cycle over the Chinese New Year and I'm still not out of it. I can't get to sleep before 1 AM at night, but then have to get up at 7:00 for work. I get through on copious amounts of coffee and tea, but it's still hard. I always end up doing my eye makeup in the bus or cab, and of course I end up in the ones with the most brake-happy drivers.
*deep breath* Calm, must be calm.
*****
I think I have tutoring later today. It's with a new family that I'm not altogether sure about. They're extremely wealthy and the kids are spoiled brats. Their dad pulled me aside when I was interviewing for the job and said that he mostly wanted me to work on improving their character, i.e. get them to be nicer kids. But, we always have sessions in their house, where their mom and nannies are around to cater to their every whim. There's no way I can effectively teach them in that environment.
When I say the kids are spoiled brat, I guess I'm being a bit unfair. They're both sweet kids, an 8 year-old boy and 6 year-old girl. Their parents work them to death though. They live in Shenzhen, but go to school in Hong Kong. Let me 'splain a bit. SZ are often referred to as twin cities, like Minneapolis/St. Paul. But there's a big difference. Hong Kong is still its own... municipality (or something, I'm not clear on this). Essentially Chinese citizens have to pass through immigration to go to HK and vice versa. I'm American so I can go into HK any time I want, but have to have a visa to come back into China.
It's also still quite far away from SZ. The kids have to spend at least 3 hours (more with traffic) on the road to and from HK every single day. They also have to take all these supplemental classes, like math/science, kung fu, dance, musical instruments. Whenever I carve out an hour or two of their time, they seem to be completely burnt out.
They also live quite far away from me too, an average cab trip will cost 40 yuan. The mom covers my cab costs, but I'm wondering if its worth the time I spend in transit to teach "character" to these kids who probably won't even be listening to me. Keep in mind, I also work another part-time tutoring job and a full-time job at a school. I may be overstretching myself.
*****
Complaining is over and done with. I'm going to release my negativity. One of my best friends from uni is coming to visit me in a few weeks, and I'm going to take her all around China. I think the best part about living here is how easy it is to save and travel cheaply. Yesterday I spent around 50 RMB total for the entire day, subway, lunch, cab, dinner. According to google, 50 RMB = $7.05. Hellz. Yes.
*****
Day 03 - Friendships in your life that have had a great impact on you.
Yeah, I'm not gonna post a picture of my friends. That would mean I'd have to choose between friends, and that's not on.
Instead, I'll write about the most important friendships in my life. There are 4 major phases.
1. Childhood - When I was growing up in Atlanta I had a close circle of four friends who were also the children of my parent's good friends. We were all Chinese and we did everything outside of school together. Chinese school, Chinese dance, family vacations, after school, you name it. We've all drifted a bit since then, as is natural, but I consider them to be my sisters, and I miss them all the time.
2. High School - I had a bit of an shy, awkward phase where I didn't have too many friends. Then I went to high school, and came out of my shell. This is when I realized my fondness for gay male friends and theirs for me in return. I didn't like to align myself with any particular clique in school, so I had friends in many different groups.
3. Freshman year of college - This is one of those unpleasant things that don't kill you but make you stronger. I got to college and made friends with a group of girls. In particular I was very close with two other Chinese-American girls. Before long though, the whole group started excluding me from things and avoiding me. I was baffled and hurt, and ended up cutting off all communication with them. Later, once I had found another group of friends (who I'm still close with today) I asked one of the girls in the first group why they'd so brutally ostracized me. Her exact words were, "Well, you have to understand, some people have habits that annoy the pet peeves of other people." Dumbfounded, I asked what those habits were. If there was something about me that put people off I wanted to know dammit! She refused to answer, saying "it's hard to pinpoint."
If it's hard to pinpoint then why cut someone out of the group so ruthlessly?! In hindsight, I'm so glad I didn't stay friends with them longer. Instead of trying to fit into their idea of coolness and change myself, I found a group of friends who embrace my dorkiness and who I'm proud to know.
4. Junior/Senior year of college - I became intense friends with one of my junior year roommates halfway through the year. We were glued at the hip, peas in a pod, all that jazz. It was strange because we were entirely opposite in some aspects of our personality. We even took a cross-country road trip together, and only got mad at each other once. But then senior year came along and we became busy with our own things and didn't have enough time to hang out. Small grievances turned into grudges and we ended up not talking for a while. After finally having an emotional and tearful talk, we decided to be roommates and not stuck together. She helped me through one of the toughest times of my life, I still talk to her though when I can, and I still see her as one of my best friends.
And where does that leave me now? I have a few good work friends and other expats who I hang out with. But so far no one who could belong on this list. I miss having people I can call up and say, "hey, let's hang out!" People here are busy with their own lives, and to be honest, so am I. I guess that's why I'm increasing my online life. I spend a lot of time talking with old friends on Gchat. In fact, I probably talk to them even more than I did when I lived close to them.
Wow, now that was a real ramble.