5/17/14

 

                                I want to share with everyone the fun experience that I had last night with some of my classmates and colleagues at Southwest University.  I had the privilege of being invited to one of my South Korean classmate's birthday party last night.  The venue was a Korean barbeque restaurant which ended up being a quite festive occasion.

 

                                All seemed to be in good moods throughout the evening as libations were being consumed, games were being played, and general merriment was encouraged by all. 

 

                                One of the highlights of the meal was being able to meet both new and old friends.  I always enjoy meeting new friends from around the world, and I feel quite enthusiastic whenever such an opportunity arises like the one I had last night.  One of the fun things about meeting foreign friends now in China is that most of them have studied Chinese before and prefer to speak in Mandarin Chinese.

 

                                After dinner, the group headed out for a night on the town.  Unfortunately, for some in our group the first stop would ultimately be there last.  Some in our group drank too liberally at dinner which caused them greater difficulty as the evening's processions continued.

 

                                Being an experienced foreigner regarding the nature of drinking in China I was able to stay a little bit ahead of the game early on in the evening which always bodes well for you in the end.  At around bar close the group moved to another part of town to continue the festivities. 

 

                                Near by Southwest University's gate number five the remnants of the group assembled for one last bar push.  After the final bar stop a few more courageous or intoxicated souls remained to consume Chinese barbeque outside of the bars.

 

                                After stuffing ourselves with delicious barbeque for the second time that night our group finally headed home; 3:00 am!  Overall not a bad way to spend quality time with friends in China!

 

 

 

Best,

 

Erik

5/13/14

                                I have been extremely busy lately with the addition of nine hours of teaching a week.  In two week's time I will likely add an additional three-seven hours of teaching as well which means that I am probably going to have to fight hard to stave off insanity! haha

                               How this all came to be is quite interesting to me and it shows the great lengths that Chinese people will go to learn English.  I sought two former employers and told them that I was interested in doing more part time work since a couple of my other jobs had recently ended.  At the time, I was told that there were no current students looking for tutoring; however, in less than two days time I had already received too many job offers to be able to accept them all!  On top of that, I had a faculty member contact me regarding tutoring their child as well as another company get in contact with me regarding their organization.

 

                                I know it is good to feel wanted and know that your work is appreciated; nonetheless, the outpouring of offers I received literally blew me away.

 

                                I also had the pleasure of being treated to a wonderful meal at a Chinese family's home the other evening.  I meet this family through a mutual American friend whose Chinese girlfriend is the daughter of the family. 

 

                                The meal itself was marvelous; however, as with everything in life there is no free lunch; thus, I was told that we would drink a bottle of baijiu for lunch with the meal.  As I was the only foreigner at this meal I knew that I would certainly be the "bell" of this "ball"; thus, I was also likely to receive the vast majority of toasts.

 

                                After a loquacious hour of inebriated conversation I was graciously offered a room with a bed to go to for a "rest" along with several other family members who had also received more than their fair share of toasts.  Two hours later I found myself awake and partial conscious as the rice liquor's venom still ran through my veins. The knowledge that baijiu would also be served at dinner time motivated me to hastily formulate an escape plan. 

 

                                After half an hour of conversation I managed to leave with my dignity and the family's "face" both still intact.

 

                                I have found that these types of family gatherings are extremely common in China, and that they need to be enjoyed if you want to understand more about Chinese culture.  In my opinion, it is all part of the journey and just something that one must learn to get used to if they want to enjoy living in China.

Nietzsche: A Philosopher Like no Other

 

                                I read Nietzsche's "Antichrist" and I am currently finishing reading "Thus Spake Zarathustra".  Both of these works are quite engrossing as their content covers several major themes.  Primarily speaking, Nietzsche is writing about religion, the "Superman" (Ubermensch), human anthropology, society, time, sexual differentiation, psychology, and philosophy.

 

   Nietzsche's work is still popular in western culture today; however, many of his views are distorted and put out of context in their current guise.  To truly understand anything one must research carefully all necessary materials before trying to make presumptive statements regarding the validity of such claims. 

 

                                After reading two of his more popular publications I have come to the conclusion that Nietzsche's work really extended human imagination at their time of publication.  When thinking about the era in which his works were published; 1850-1900, it is important to remember that he followed great contemporaries such as Darwin and Marx who had also written on similar topics.  His theories extended and pushed the limits of human awareness in their era and have continued to have an impact on culture today which means that their impact is timeless.    

 

                                From the works that I have read, I believe that Nietzsche starts out on the right basis; as he would say, at the "bottom".  In all honesty, Nietzsche's works are obviously not infallible.  He is extremely chauvinistic, misogynistic, and over-bearing in his writing style; nonetheless, he did the world a service by calling us to carefully analyze human beings.  I think that science and technology will continue to play a key role in the development of his theories; likewise, we still do not know enough about the human brain to adequately sweepingly prove or disprove his all of his theories.

 

                                What we do know is that Nietzsche lived life the way he wanted to, and he would certainly be happy today to be labeled as the "Antichrist".  The pathos of his struggle in life literally flows through the pages of his works.  His isolation, loss of friendship, misanthropy, and feeling of being different from everyone else are all feelings that I can relate to in my own life.  Clearly, the path Nietzsche took in life propelled him down the road to philosophy; all philosophers need some type of motivation to get them started writing.     

 

     Clearly, Nietzsche feels that the "Holy Spirit" is a fancy doctrine which is not based in the evolution of our species until the last couple of centuries.  In his mind, the whole of Christian philosophy poisons reality and tries to make good humans act like robots by denying our true instincts. 

 

                                In some regards, Nietzsche seems to express remorse that evolution did not take humans down a different path, a path directly to his "Superman" or "Ubermensch".  In his mind, today humans focus too much on sentimentalities and have foolishly forgotten how animalistic we truly are. 

 

                                Nietzsche's ideas have captured the imagination of many people today who would probably confess to have not read a single of his works.  In this way, I think that we have failed to even contend with Nietzsche in regards to debating his ideas.  After reading his works, I can say for the first time that I can almost understand Nietzsche.  His mind, his fury, and his desire all seep through the pages of his work expressing the passion of this great philosopher.     

 

                                In sum, the endearing spirit of Nietzsche's work has in many ways left an indelible mark on philosophy; however, as any amateur photographer will tell you polarized lenses used incorrectly can blur the scene.  Nietzsche is abhorred with the fact that humans will continue to believe in what he would say was a "terrible lie" as well as remain sentimental to others in need.  Regardless, of what culture you are talking about human genetics and evolution have together carried these "lesser" traits with us to our present time which probably means there is a good reason for doing so.  Nietzsche really seems to express frustration with this fact; furthermore, he rests all of his hopes with the next evolutionary change towards reaching his "Superman". 

 

                                To me, if something exists there is a reason for its existence.  Nietzsche did the world a great service for showing us how much we are still shackled by our evolutionary forbearers; however, he missed hitting a home run by not taking into account the endearing qualities that persist in our species today as well.  In all reality, humans are extremely interesting, difficult, and strange creatures to fully-understand.  Always convoluted in our personalities, humans actually take on an almost pitiful existence when one realizes that we still do not know the mystery of our own existence in the universe.  The mysteries of the human brain and a myriad of other left un-answered questions will need to wait until science and technology can match the passion in which we desire to know the answers to the questions that have persisted in haunting us.

 

                                Personally, I feel that since every trait which evolution has selected for our species today parallels our development as humans; therefore, in a word there must be a "reason" why those traits are present.  I would argue that these genes point towards a biologically innate tendency to want to work together in groups; however, Nietzsche might see it as an inevitable outcome of unwanted genes not being exterminated from the gene pool through a natural "weeding out" process.  I would contend that our ability to develop useful technology has allowed humans to avoid that evolutionary struggle which seems manifest in all Nietzsche writes.    

 

                                In closing, I like how Nietzsche pushes us to reflect more on our actions as well.  The spirit of introspection permeates his works.  As Socrates so famously coined, "The unexamined life is not worth living".  I feel that Nietzsche adds another layer of complexity to our great body of knowledge on the human condition.  I recommend his works to those curious who about the human condition.  I hope this review of Nietzsche was entertaining; I know that writing it was for me!

Busy Days: I Shall Blog Again.... When....

                                Last week I took several new work opportunities in an effort to increase my salary over the next couple of months before I go traveling this summer.  I am also currently using most of my free time studying Chinese, reading, and writing which has had the cumulative effect of taking time away from writing my blog. 

 

                                The two essays I am writing are actually quite different in nature; one is about American Democracy and the other is a reaction to reading several works by Nietzsche.  In an effort to save time I will tell you that nothing too unbelievable has happened to me in the last couple of days; however, I did have a student stand up in the middle of a class period and tell me in front of everyone how much the class liked me which was a little awkward to take! haha

 

I hope everyone is doing well.

 

Best,

E.K.

 

                           上个星期我接受几个新的兼职因为暑假之前我想提高工资了。我最近有空的话喜欢学习中文，看书，和写文章。因为空有限的我不能花很多时发出日记在博客上。

 

                                我写文章的主题和内容就是完全不同的。第一文章的主题是美国民主然后另外的文章主题根据尼采写的哲学。因为我最近很忙我只告诉大家目前一切都不错啊。不过我今天有一个学生在上课讨论的时候站起来向大家说我们都喜爱你ERIK! 其实我听到这样的话的时候我每次有点儿尴尬呀！哈哈

 

我希望大家都有身体健康！

 

最好，

 

Erik

Aphorisms, Couplets, and Epigrams

 

                                Hi Everyone!  I have decided to add one more new twist into my blog.  The beauty of writing a blog is that it is completely dependent on the intellectual style of its author.  I was inspired by F Scott Fitzgerald's ability to write both meaningfully and elegantly prose.  I now want to add in my own thoughts, poetry, and ideas regarding life in this blog. 

 

                                Do not get me wrong the blog will still center on China related topics; however, I think it is time to start experimenting with different writing styles as well!

 

                                This will be even more fun I feel and make writing this even more interesting I think.

 

Best,

 

E.K.

 

                                格言，对句，和警句

 

                                大家好！现在决定想再改变我的博客风格。写博客的优点是它完全根据作者的知识和风格。 我佩服斯考特菲茨杰拉德的才能写根据都有意义和优雅的事情。我目前想也加自己的想法，诗歌，和概念关于我的生活。

 

                                请不要你们不了解我的意思啊。理所当然我写的主题跟中国还有关系不过我以为现在我得试一试不同的写作风格呀！

 

我个人思考现在写它越来越好玩和更有趣的！

 

最好，

 

E.K.

5/1/14

                                In China, workers celebrate the May 1st International Labor Day, so I was pretty enthusiastic when I learned that I would have a long weekend; Friday was also given as a vacation day.  I was feeling extra wonderful since my convalescence seemed to have revived my industry.  I spent Friday doing the things which I enjoy most; studying, reading, writing, and exercising.

 

                                I finished reading "This Side of Paradise" and was satisfied with the way it left me pondering life.  I think that any book which made you think afterwards was a book worth reading.  Regardless of Fitzgerald's ultimate opinions on Socialism I found the ending quite satisfying since the main character, Amory, was able to at least realize that he finally did "know" himself for who he truly was.  The struggle in my own life is uncannily similar to that of the stories protagonist.

 

                                Since poetry is very prevalent throughout the works I want to try my hand at a couplet.  If you find it obtuse then I am sorry.  I have never attempted to write poetry before.

 

Alone in the forest the dense fog slowly distinguishes reality from myth.  Awareness gains momentum with a dark tenacity both uncontrollable and swift.  All ideas shall be taken nothing can be missed.  For if one is to get out of this forest alive they must be cunning, honest, and equipped.  To survive means to be both agile and quick.  For all around this forest life is moving and it is time to find one's true nitch!

 

Since I am running behind schedule today I will unfortunately have time to translate this blog into Chinese! 

 

Best,

 

E.K.

4/29/2014

 

                                On the previous day, I caught a cold which definitely affected my overall energy level.  I had not slept well the night before; therefore, I decided to take Nyquil that next night.  On Tuesday morning, I woke up feeling tired and drowsy from a long night of sleep.  On Tuesdays, I usually go to four periods of Chinese class at the Exchange students' dormitory; however, on this day I skipped these classes entirely.

 

                           昨天，我患感冒了因此我的精力程度下降了。 昨晚上我睡得不香。为了睡得很香下次该吃感冒药。周二早上我起床的时候发现身体又累又困的样子因为我吃了Nyquil。星期二我平时在留学生的宿舍上四节中文课，不过因为我身体不太好我就逃课了。

 

                                Instead of going to class I read a couple of chapters in F Scott Fitzgerald's, "This Side of Paradise" which has been a great read.  I really like the transition the main character, "Amory" has taken as his life experiences have changed.  Fitzgerald does a great job of creating characters that come alive through their weakness, ambition, and failures in life.  In many ways, I can relate to some the challenges that the young protagonist has faced in his short life.

 

                                除了上课之外我看几篇章的一本书叫“这边的天堂”。书的作家叫F 斯考特菲茨杰拉德。我超喜欢这本书的主角叫“Amory"因为每次他的生活变得他吸取了新的知识。菲茨杰拉德的书中人都具有丰富的弱点，动机，和生活崩溃的经历。其实我跟这本书的主角的共同点不少因此我跟他有共鸣。

 

                                After reading I spent a couple of hours studying Chinese.  I am currently using a clever method to help me remember the different Chinese characters.  The method is built around the idea of making the characters easier to remember by telling separate stories for each one.  When I use this method I am not only remembering what the characters look like but also what their meaning is.

 

                                看书完以后我花几个小时在学习中文上。我目前被一个机灵的学习方法记住了不同的汉字。该学习方法的基本结构用故事学习汉字。你要创造一个故事对一个字就会描绘那个字的意思。当我用这个学习方式我不但会记住了那个字也会记得那个字的意思。

 

                                In the evening, I tried to get to sleep early in order to allow myself an opportunity for my body to heal itself.  I have always heard that our bodies heal themselves the best while resting which is why I attempted to use this method.

 

                                晚上的时候我以为得早一点儿睡觉把身体好起来了。我从来听人说当我们睡觉的时候我们的身体就会进步了。它就是为什么我用这个想法把身体早日康复。

A Blogging Paradigm Shift: My Daily Life in China

 

                                Well, it certainly has taken me a long time to reach the present tense in my blog.  For those of you following my blog, it has taken me precisely two months to arrive at where I am today in my life.

 

                                In my first blog post this winter, I mentioned that a change in my blogging style was needed; however, as I thought over the past vicissitudes of my life I knew that I would feel remise if I did not cover them in my blog.  I had a lot of important experiences that needed mentioning in order for my readers to amply understand the reasons for the changes in my life.

 

                                Another quite infinitely more important reason for reflection is that I feel introspection is a life-long skill to be learned.  In my opinion, thinking needs to be used in order to understand the greatest question of all, "why?"  A young person aspiring to begin a new way of life must not neglect to reflect on their life choices.  Often times, we miss some of the most obvious truisms in our lives because we are always concerned about the future.  Also, many lessons can be learned from analyzing our decision-making processes in the past.  This learning process is especially critical when analyzing things that do not turn out the way we had expected them to beforehand.

 

                                For all of these reasons I focused my first two months on recounting the past.  Tomorrow I will begin a new blogging format which will emphasize the daily occurrences in my life and my reflections on those changes. 

 

                                Furthermore, another new twist in my blog is also coming tomorrow.  In an effort to improve my Chinese I will attempt to write my first blog post in English and the second one in Chinese. 

 

                                This is going to be a fun, challenging, and infinitely interesting exercise for all of us.  If there are any people interested in learning Chinese who read this blog then you might find this blog to be more engrossing than before; likewise, if there are any ethnic Chinese out there who read this blog then you can point out my numerous mistakes for me as well!  In this way we shall begin a new journey tomorrow.  Good night everyone! ; 大家晚安！

Implementing the Project: Unexpected Successes and Miscalculated Errors

  

                                From the onset, I knew that the project was not going to be an easy one to implement.  Since I teach a large number of students, I knew that project coordination was going to be difficult to manage.  Likewise, it did not take me long to realize that just finding a time and place to meet was going to be a challenge.  While organizing the project, I learned that I was not the only one who was busy all of the time.  Through planning the project, I became aware that my students too were leading exceedingly past-paced lives.  

 

                                Since I am already working several part time jobs, tutoring, studying Chinese, as well as teaching at Southwest University my extra time is quite precious to me.  By taking on the extra-curricular work in addition to my other responsibilities I knew I was going to be pushing myself to my limit this semester.  Nevertheless, I recognized the importance of the work that I was doing for with students and the community of Beibei as being important.  I also had made getting students more involved in their community a major goal of mine this year.  If I was going to accomplish this goal I knew that I needed to start somewhere.

 

                                I started out my first week of classes on the topic of the Service Learning project.  I remember that first week being really excited about the semester's most important assignment.  I gladly fielded many well-thought out questions from students. 

 

                                After a couple of classes I realized that I was really glad that my students had given me some critical feedback regarding the project.  In some cases, I even found that I had not amply considered some of the possible results of several decisions.  In this way, I am indebted to the frank appraisal of my conscientious students.  Without their support the project would have gone nowhere in the beginning.

 

                                By the third week of classes I learned that I was going to need to try and coordinate about twenty different groups during the semester.  I let students decide their own group's mission statement, project type, meeting time, and etcetera.  In the beginning, I favored letting students decide as much as possible in regards to their project.  This bottom-top model of organization created an environment where students could feel a sense of responsibility for the outcome of the project.  One negative outcome of this model is that the leader is not free to arrange meeting times around their schedule.  If I had a top-bottom organizational command structure I would have more control over the meeting times and places the activities were being held at.

 

                                Students formed their own groups and decided the theme of their own individual project.  In the end, each class split up into four to six groups per section.  In whole, there would be a total of four classes involved in the project.  Since each group is supposed to volunteer for a minimum of three hours an activity the constraints on my schedule would be enormous.  I would be asking myself to volunteer around sixty hours this semester.  Knowing that I could not spend sixty hours on this project placed a sense of foreboding in my heart.

 

                                After much deliberation, I ended up changing the tactics of my project in order to grant myself more free-time during the semester.  I announced a new rule allowing myself to move freely between different projects being held at the same time.  The success of the project hinged on my commitment to spend hours volunteering this semester.  If I was going to accomplish this goal in a healthy way then having the ability to have some sort of personal life was going to be important too.

                                The projects that the students performed were wonderful to be a part of.  For example, throughout the semester different groups have visited retirement communities, picked up trash, planted trees, made crafts for donations, put up signs, cleaned classrooms, collected donations, and etcetera.  It has been a pleasure to witness students happily enjoying volunteering their time for the betterment of others.  I think for me the greatest highlight of the whole experience was visiting the retirement home with students. 

 

                                At the retirement home students and I sang songs, danced, talked, and attempted to perform all for the entertainment of the elderly inhabitants.  The merriment was literally palpable as retirees, students, and I all found the experience to be a worthwhile one. 

 

                                At the end of our time together both students and retirees encouraged me to sing a song for the group.  Since I only know the complete lyrics to a couple of songs I determined that signing the Beatles and Led Zeppelin were probably my best options to choose.  Thus, a group of elderly Chinese for probably the only time in their memory heard the lyrics of John Lennon and Robert Plant.  Now, how's that for "Talking a 'bout a Revolution?!?!"

 

                                I can safely say that I am extremely pleased with the results of the project so far.  During the course of the project, I learned that indeed many of my students thought of the project as nothing more than another request on their time; however, by the time that each group had finished their project their attitudes towards it had changed remarkably.  I was so encouraged to hear students tell me that they felt better about what they were doing while doing it. 

 

                                I have high hopes for the future regarding this project.  If things move ahead as planned, I can expect collaboration with some of the CSBSJU study abroad students next semester.  Judging by what I have experienced so far the future holds the opportunity for greater things to come.  In the future, I figure on continuing to alter my current project model.  If I keep my current strategy of flexible tactics then I am positive that things will move ahead in a favorable manner.

Service Learning Project: An Opportunity to Change Lives

                                Not organizing extra-curricular activities with my students has been one of my biggest complaints so far in China.  At times, I shied away from getting involved in work outside of the classroom because I was afraid that I would become a burden for my students.  My unease at organizing extra-curricular activities stemmed from having difficulty in understanding language, culture, and a desire to have as much free time as possible to myself outside of teaching.

 

                                The first two objections took some time and effort in ameliorating.  At first glance, the third objection should have taken me the least amount of time to change since it related to attitude; however, overtime the more I contemplated my problem the more I felt puzzled.  In the end, I decided that the last reason was the most ridiculous for me to accept; was I not in China to work with others?  I recently concluded that this feeling of sadness is attributed to my sometimes rocky relationship with self. 

 

                                At times, I have not loved myself which has effectively helped to direct me towards despairing roads of personal torture.  It is a sad truth that confiding more to one's self and less in others helps to increase the severity and duration of one's malaise.  Unfortunately, when one is feeling quite depressed they rarely want to share their true feelings with others.  Likewise, depression becomes a self-sustaining leviathan once the process of cutting-off contact with the outside world begins.

 

                                When I returned to China I knew that it was time for me to step out of the shadows of my former self and assume the role that I always had wanted to lead in life.  As is the case in any situation there were several reasons for me to feel this way.  One important reason was that I had just spent six months at home and felt rejuvenated.  While at home, I had done a lot of thinking and was able to thoroughly construct a curriculum around the project I had in mind.

 

                                Another important reason was being with my family while dad battled cancer.  Experiencing a scare with cancer has the effect of teaching people to value their time on this earth.  I knew that time was waiting for no one and I needed to act in order to direct my life down the path I had always wanted it to take.

 

                                Finally, my language skills and cultural awareness had matured to the point where I knew that I could handle the extra work without putting any extra burden of responsibility on my students.

 

                                Before I left for China I had great conversations with a couple of my Chinese mentors.  One of them was with a personal friend who I have assisted in consulting affairs in Tianjin, China.  I really enjoyed hearing my friend's perspectives and encouragement regarding the project I was proposing.  This friend is a Chinese-American who was born in China before immigrating to the United States.  I really valued my friend's input into the project since they had gone through the Chinese education system growing up in Tianjin.

 

                                I also had the opportunity to ask a Chinese alumnus from Saint John's University about his opinion on the project.  There advice and guidance helped me to consider unforeseen problems and obstacles in the way of organizing a successful project. 

 

                                I was taken aback by the level of support that both of my Chinese friends showed me during our discussions.  Both of my friends argued that it was important to get more students involved in extra-curricular activities and volunteer work in their free-time.  I was also warned that I would experience difficulties in organizing my volunteer project.  I was told that my students would first regard the volunteer work as an assignment and probably have little enthusiasm for it.  My friends also argued that giving my students the opportunity to choose their own projects might be too liberal of me.  Many of my students would not be accustomed to having this much freedom of choice.  Finally, my friends emphasized that is was critical that I do as much work as I could in guiding my students in the right direction during the project.

 

                                I also had the opportunity of mentioning the project to Professor Richard Bohr before leaving for China.  My Chinese history professor's opinion was that the project was a great idea, and that it could possibly lead to a service learning component being added into the college's permanent curriculum.  We talked for a while and both shared the goal of getting the CSBSJU fall semester abroad program involved in the program as well.  In that way, CSBSJU students could meet more friends on the campus, be engaged in the Chinese community, and find a good person to practice speaking Chinese with too!

Break from the Mundane: The Interesting, Strange, and Wonderful World of China

  

                                If my experience in China has taught me anything it is to expect the unexpected.  In China, a novel experience is always waiting around the corner.  The only limit on how many new experiences you have is your own attitude.  If you are willing to try something new out then you are going to have a very memorable experience in China.

                               

                                One of the very first interesting things that happened to me this semester occurred while I was on the street.  I was near Southwest University on my way to get some lunch when a stranger approached me with an unusual request. 

 

                                As a foreigner in China, one learns the necessity of being adaptable in every situation.  This adaptability is no more manifest than in the type of work foreigners do in China.  I have been asked to record my voice for students learning English, work as a "foreigner" in a bar, attend a business event as a foreigner, work as an English Consultant, and teach test prep-courses all because I am a foreigner.  These offers now seem pretty standard to me after living in China the last two and a half years.  However, the request that this man had one was quite different from the norm.  This man wanted to be filmed in a documentary he was filming about World War II.

 

                                The man later gave me his contact information and promised to meet with me again the following Monday.  Monday came and went without any contact from the director.  His strange actions exacerbated my fears that there was some type of scheme going on.  I first began to suspect foul play when the director continued to call me almost daily.  I was also nervous because by this time my Chinese communication skills were still lacking; likewise, I had only been in China for about two weeks. 

 

                                When I did receive a call the phone number traced to a user in Guangzhou, China which is quite far away from where I am living.  After about a week of receiving daily phone call I finally accepted his offer to meet in person.  Our meeting was set for the following Monday afternoon.

 

                 

 

                                As a teacher, I have learned to be able to adjust to just about every situation that presents itself.  Also, I have had the experience of living in a vastly different society which has taught me the value of flexibility.  Even with this knowledge and experience I was still anxious begin put into this unique situation.  I knew that being filmed in a movie would push my limits.  In my life, I have had almost no experience in front of camera. 

 

                                When the man missed the Monday appointment and failed to return my call I felt both relieved and disappointed.  Regardless of my anxiety, it would have been such an interesting experience to have been filmed in China.

 

                                Another strange occurrence happened to me only a couple of days later.  The scene was set at a noodle restaurant near Southwest University.  While eating lunch, I noticed someone starring at me quite intently from the middle of the street outside of the restaurant.  I really felt as if I must have been one of the world's most exotic birds from the way that this man was looking at me.  Although, I was able to mostly ignore this stranger there seemed to be something unsettling in the way he starred at me.

                               

                                The next time I saw this stranger was only a couple of days later.  I was eating at the same restaurant enjoying my noodles when I noticed that the same man had returned to verify my existence. 

 

                                I was soon to learn that my guest was an eccentric immigrant from Kazakhstan who had the ability to speak several languages.  The man proceeded to ask me in broken Mandarin some basic questions such as; "Where are you from?", "What are you doing in China?", and "What is your monthly salary?"

 

                                After living in China for a few years I have become accustomed to the inquisitive nature of the local people of Chongqing.  Traditionally, Chinese people do not like to go up to someone on their own initiative and strike up a conversation.  The collectivized nature of Chinese culture stresses the importance of group interaction, not individual spontaneity.  Thus, very rarely does a stranger on their own come up to my table on the premise of striking up a conversation.

 

                                In most situations, an interested on looker will ask the store's manager some questions about me in the local Chongqing dialect.  Since I can understand most of what is being said I do not mind this type of implicit attention anymore. Occasionally, I will decide to shock the questioners into a conversation with me directly.  This action is quite shocking to most Chinese people since they believe that it is almost impossible for a foreigner to understand the local language.

 

                                There were several quite unique factors which distinguished my communication with my new friend that afternoon.  First off, the conversation included the usage of Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Kazakh languages.  On top of that, my guest tried to throw in a couple of words in English which only made the situation more confusing for me.  After about fifteen minutes, I decided that I had had enough and was on my way out the door.  For proprieties' sake I needed to make this exit a protracted affair in order to make sure that I gave this person enough "face".  Since living in China, I have learned how important saving "face" and giving someone "face" was. 

 

After what I thought was an ample amount of "face" giving I bid this stranger farewell; however, to my chagrin they were not going to let me go off that easily.  The man tried to pressure me to have a few shoots of Baijiu since by now we were lifelong friends.  Fortunately, for me I have learned how to give "face" to someone now and still reject their offer. 

 

                                The same noodle restaurant would also be the location of my third special experience since being back in China.  The owner of the restaurant chain is a very nice man in his thirties who really enjoys having an afternoon conversation with me.  The owner usually sits down and talks with me when he is not too busy dealing with other business.  He is an entrepreneur of sorts and currently owns two restaurants in Beibei.  Many of his family members hold positions in the store which has the effect of making it feel like you eating inside their home every time you come in.  I almost instantly was able to create rapport with the workers which is why I still eat there every afternoon.    

 

                                One Saturday morning, I received a frantic call from the boss of the restaurant asking if I could do them a special favor.  The CQTV news company wanted to interview the noodles restaurant regarding their "Chinese dream".  The owner really wanted to show off how modern his restaurant chain was; therefore, he needed to have at least one foreigner fluent in Chinese during the filming.  After a couple of minutes the owner was able to persuade me to give a little interview regarding my experience eating noodles in his restaurant.

 

                                I need to make a small digression regarding the topic of the "Chinese dream".  The attainment of the Chinese dream has been the focus of Chairman Xi Jin Ping since he took office as the head of the PRC in 2013.  The dream is based roughly on the idea of the "American dream" and pushes people to set goals that can be reached through economic progress. 

 

                                During the interview I was as cool as can be.  I actually really had a lot of fun doing it and was not taken aback by the truncated process.  After arriving at the restaurant, I immediately was asked to go upstairs where the film crew was to film my interview.  When I got up the steps I found a bowl of warm noodles ready for me.  The owner would spare no expense in order to make this interview look as natural as it could be.

 

                                The crew asked me some basic question about my experience at the restaurant when eating there.  For example, I was asked questions such as, "Why do you eat noodles"; "Where did you first meet the owner of the restaurant"; "How do noodles in China and America compare", etcetera.

 

                                After the interview was over I learned that the episode would not necessarily be aired on television.  The network needed first to edit the film and decide if the footage was good enough to be aired live on television.  After two weeks I was told by the owner that our story was to be aired sometime in the next couple of days.  One night at 6:15 pm I received a call from the owner telling me in fifteen minutes the story was to be aired on television.  Unfortunately, I was in the middle of a workout which meant that I would be unable to see the live story. 

 

                                Disappointed, I turned to watching the episode online on the CQTV video database.  Unable to find the story on my own search to the website I asked the owner if they could help me locate the story online.  To this day I have not found it yet; although, hope remains since I know that the owner two would like to have a record of this footage for advertising purposes.

 

                                The other day I was told by someone in another restaurant that they had seen my interview on the news.  I asked them how they thought my performance was on air and they told me it was pretty good.  By this time in China I am not sure what to think of that type of a response.  Was it really pretty good or were they just trying to show me respect by giving me "face"?