Sellin the white.

My business card.

No, no, I’m not selling drugs! Over the last year I have been aware of the wide range of “foreigner” jobs that are available in China. Many foreigners living in China have something that Asians idolize: white skin. As a foreigner there are a wide range of gigs to make a few bucks. There are many companies’s that just want a “white face” to represent the brand. As if that gives the company a better image? I don’t know, I don’t understand why companies wouldn’t want someone that actually represents the culture?  A friend of mine asked me to attend an event for the equivalent of $80 on my day off. I had the time and sticking to my “just say yes” to any unique experience policy,  I accepted. I didn’t even ask questions, I just said yes.

The morning of the “event” we were to meet the bus at 8am wearing business professional clothing (pfff, is flannel professional?). There were about 30 of us, a mix of mostly South and North Americans. The bus didn’t leave until almost 9:30, and it takes approximately 2 hours to get to the city of Yiwu (where the event was).  We got to the convention center around noon. The “job” was supposed to be from 10:00-12:00, so at this point we’re all a little annoyed that we wouldn’t be back till much later than expected. We spent an hour walking and waiting. What does that mean Carrie? Exactly how it sounds. These types of things never go according to plan. We literally walked around the entire convention center to meet with some women to receive our fake business cards. Yes. We were all given a stack of fake business cards with our name on them. I can now add Vice President of Multi-Tech LLC to my resume.

Shortly before I threw up.
At least I got to hang with these chicks.

By 12:30 we were ready to begin, yet we were already giving the organizers a hard time that we were supposed to be done by now. They told us we could meet outside at 1:30 and head back to Hangzhou. So our “job” was to walk around a commodities convention. It was so funny. I’m assuming the sponsors of the convention want foreigners attending to help with appearances and popularity? Any and every product you need could be found at the convention. They had it all. Which actually made it kind of fun, it was the equivalent of paying us to window shop.

Unfortunately I think I came down with some kind of virus that morning. I threw up when I woke up and thought maybe it was just something I had eaten the night before and decided to go anyway. I was so nauseous the whole bus ride there, then got sick again right before walking into the convention center. So after visiting two or three stalls I had to go sit down near the restroom while everyone walked around pretending to be interested buyers. I feel kind of bad. I got paid $80 to sit and read 1984.

The driver was taking too long.

At 1:30 we headed back to the bus and waited for everyone to return so we could head home. Again… things never go according to plan. We waited a couple of hours before we could go. Apparently there was some problem getting the money from whoever it was that was paying us? It was ridiculous. We didn’t get back to Hangzhou until about 7:00. It was a long day and one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever done. It’s just so sleezy how common lying is here. Even at my school I’m often asked to speak with parents and students and lie to them about my experience or how long I have been and will be with the company. I guess that’s why Chinese businessmen have such a bad reputation.

Speaking of bad reputations in China; this article was recently published in the Washington Post titled “China’s bystander problem: Another death after crowd ignores woman in peril.” I was not aware of the bystander problem in China before moving here, but after being here for a year I can name countless accounts in which I have seen it. And not all cases are as serious as this latest story, but it is true nonetheless. And I have to admit it is one of my biggest pet peeves about this country. The author discusses possible reasons for this issue, and while I can understand and partially sympathize, it’s still unacceptable.

Washington Post Article

I rarely see Chinese take initiative or think outside the box. They live in a country where everything is censored, they are brainwashed and told exactly what to do in regards to everything. There is no creativity or common sense. People do what they are told and never ask any questions.

So maybe they have never been told what to do if they see someone hurt or in need? Whatever the reason is, it’s difficult to watch. I hate to see the gawking faces. At home you see care and concern in a neighbors face. Not here.

On a lighter note: This past weekend was my last working full time! Saying goodbye to my students was a lot harder than I thought it would be. For the next month that I am here I have offered to work about three nights a week for about three hours. I'm so happy to finally have weekends free and some more free time. I’ve got a fun month ahead of me planned.

My favorites. 

My One-Year Anniversary.

I recently celebrated my one-year anniversary with China. We had a really special day together in honor of my year survival. I must say this has been the most abusive and yet rewarding relationship I’ve been in. I recently wrote to my mom about a regret of mine due to my impulsive decisions, also questioning when I will learn to stop making such impuslsive decisions. If any of you have any advice, I’m all ears. She hit me with a really sweet retort “’just when you’ve got life figured out, you die.’ This is how we learn… realizing a mistake, understanding a weakness. Growth comes from making these changes. Some degree of ‘jumping in’ is a good thing. Many would have talked themselves out of moving to a place like China for a year but you took a risk and it was a good thing.”

My roommate left this on my bed once.
Pretty much sums up a typical day in China.

It’s true, I totally “jumped in” in regards to moving to China. It was something I had thought about and imagined doing, but when the time came I jumped in without looking. Honestly, I didn’t even know what the weather was like here. Nope, didn’t occur to me to look up the yearly averages when packing. This may not change for me, and I’m pretty Ok with that. And if I do start making rational and well thought out decisions I will die shortly after.

I use the word “survive” when talking about my time here and that may seem dramatic, but I think it’s pretty accurate. Along with not packing weather appropriate clothing, I didn’t learn the language. That would be the only “regret” I have about my experience here. Not that day-to-day life is impossible, but I know many experiences would have been much different. Mostly my massages. And my relationship with the owner of the fruit shop that I visit almost daily. And the interaction with the guard at my apartment complex (though I still got a hug out of one of them once). My roommate and I were actually getting massages yesterday and “Boss” yelled at me in a very fatherly way that I need to learn Chinese. I love him so much. It would have been nice to be able to connect/communicate with some of the people that I regularly interact with. Though I’m sure I’m still their favorite even though we can’t really talk much.

They are funny. They are also Fairies sometimes.

The Chinese are funny. I’ve been observing them closely for the last year, and they really are a strange bunch. This morning I was runnin in the hills near my house, I saw a man doing Tai Chi in what looked like boxer briefs. As I was coming down the hill he was finishing his routine and putting his pants back on. And people stare at me like I’ve got seven head when this guy is exercising in his underwear?

Speaking of staring, I was just having a discussion with a student about politeness. She was telling me that the Japanese are much more p

What are you lookin at kid?

olite than Chinese people. I was probing without showing any opinion on the matter. But couldn’t help to show my agreeance on the lack of smiling here. When you make eye contact with someone, even a stranger on the street, you show some form of acknowledgment. That doesn't happen here. You are just stared at shamelessly.

These people really are shameless. They have no problem with the following actions: picking their nose in public. Pulling the car over to pee in the bushes. NON-STOP selfies. Inappropriate interrogating personal questions. Pushing you out of line. The list goes on….

Get in there sister.

It's been a great year. I wouldn't change anything I went through or where I am now. The biggest thing I've gained here is confidence, which is pretty great.

My first typhoon.

Last Monday I returned to Hangzhou after a week long vacation during Typhoon Fitow. The typhoon affected over three million people in Zhejiang province and caused economic damage of over $330 million. I flew into Shanghai Monday morning and had to run a few errands in the city before heading back to Hangzhou. The rain was pretty heavy and I was getting texts from my friends about the storm, but didn’t realize the severity of the situation. I got on a 3 o’clock train luckily (apparently all trains had been canceled the night before), I arrived in Hangzhou a little after 4pm. From the train station it takes me thirty minutes by cab to get home. But under these circumstances it took me over four hours to get home. There were points throughout the four hour trek that I almost broke down in tears, in particular the multiple times cars drove by and I was hit with a tidal wave of water. I was so relieved to make it home, only for the power to go out not long after I made it home. The following day our water was out for a few hours. Which is ironic because there was so much in the streets? Schools were closed and streets were still rivers for a day or two after the rain stopped. It was actually quite an experience. So many shops and restaurants are still shut down because of water damage which is quite sad.

Anyway, let’s back up to happier times. The last few weeks have been great. All of my friends that spent the summer home in the US are back in Hangzhou. We celebrated Mid Autumn Festival at the end of September. This is the day that the moon is its fullest and brightest according to the Chinese calendar. On of my students invited me to celebrate with her family. I have taken a vow being here that I cannot turn down any authentic Chinese experiences. My student is 14 years old and so darling and her family is wonderful. They treat me so well (bringing me coffee, gifts, taking me to dinner), and I consider them my “Chinese family”. The holiday was great.  There were 16 people at the dinner table and only my student and her 17-year-old cousin could speak any English. It was a lot of smiling and nodding… and beer. I’m constantly being encouraged by Chinese men to drink with them.

The following week we celebrated National Day. This was a seven-day holiday, so my friend Mecah, her boyfriend Eduardo and I decided we should take advantage of the time and go on a trip. We considered many different countries in Southeast Asia but eventually settled for the cheapest fight: Jakarta, Indonesia. The reason our flight was so inexpensive was because we had almost full day layovers there and back. But we considered this a bonus, a chance to see more cities in China!

We flew out of Shanghai Monday evening and got into Fuzhou late at night. Fuzhou is a beach city in South Eastern China. There really isn’t much to say about Fuzhou except that there is a beach; nothing like the beaches of Newport however. We found a private cab to take us to the beach. The first thing he asked us was where we were from and Eduardo responded “Ecuador”.  The chances of what happened next are probably around 1 in 4 million. I just don’t think there are any other Chinese men from the small town of Fuzhou that had lived in Ecuador for ten years! Eduardo and this man continued the rest of the afternoon speaking in Spanish; he even came to the beach with us, drove us back to our hotel and refused to let us pay him.

We flew into Jakarta late that night. In the morning we did a little touring in Central Jakarta before we boarded an overnight train. Jakarta was nice to see, but not a place I would visit again. It reminded me a bit of Manila in that you can’t walk anywhere, it's a bit dirty, and the only thing to do is go to malls. I’m just not a big fan of the “mall culture”. It was however so wonderful to just be in Indonesia. The people were so kind and the majority of people spoke English. Our overnight train took us to Jogjakarta, a small town in Java, Indonesia. It’s known as the center of classical Javanese culture. The city is also extremely close to the world famous Borobudur and Prambanan temples. Visiting the temples was definitely my favorite part of our trip. These structures were just breathtaking.

After a day and a half we returned to Jakarta via overnight train. The overnight train was pretty awful in that it was almost impossible to sleep due to the bright lights, and loud bumpy ride. We returned to Jakarta before 4am so we went to our hotel and caught up on some sleep. We had an enjoyable day just relaxing at the hotel. That evening we met up with one of my old regulars from Malarky’s who just happened to have moved to Jakarta about a month ago to practice Chiropractics. We had a great night with him, then flew to Xiamen, China early the next day.

Xiamen is a small somewhat touristy Chinese city. It, like Fuzhou, is on the water however there was a lot more to do. Xiamen has a cute Island to visit similar to Catalina. I can’t say it was as enjoyable as Catalina though due to all the Chinese people. We did however find a "California Cuisine" restaurant to finish our trip! We flew out super early the next morning. Back to reality.