A Karmic Lychee @ rah-kun.net

Guys, things don’t look so good back home. The view from China is looking kinda grim – assault rifles at right winger political rallies, “Energy Citizens.” And what’s this nonsense I’m hearing about “Keep Government out of Medicare?” Is the right wing so powerful that they can perpetually hurl loads of shit at the fan?

人之初，性本善
性相近，习相远
苟不教，性乃迁
教之道，贵以专
　　　－＜＜ 三字经 ＞＞
ren zhi chu, xing ben shan
xing xiang jin, xi xiang yuan
gou bu jiao, xing nai qian
jiao zhi dao, gui yi chuan
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　- “Sansijing”

I hate teaching little kids. I really, really hate it. For one, they’re filthy little shits. Part of this promotional class that I have to do involves shaking everyone’s hands at the start of the class to make a good show for the parents (who are in the room).

Today, my investment in a cell phone with a half-decent camera and included data cable seriously paid off.
Today was the last outing with this university student I’ve been tutoring before he heads back to Nanjing for the new semester. We went across the river to Baijia, the part of the city that dates back to [...]

I’ve been trying new things again.
The other day, during my run to the Wushang next door, I grabbed a five pack of ramen for “emergencies.” Last night, I decided to try one and… I kinda regret it.

So I went and did that thing where I dropped some cash on my electric and then took off to find the first thing I’d had to eat since yesterday morning. I went to my usual noodle place where I got a bowl of what I like to call “hot-ass noodles” – basically, it’s some [...]

The crappy thing about getting sick while on long-term “assignment” in a foreign country is that, without even the basic comfort of being in your own skin, your tolerance for just about everything else flies out of the window. In short, one’s basic physical and mental wellbeing are the lynchpin to enjoying a foreign land. [...]

Oh man… I was hoping it was just allergies or something, having moved from the outskirts to the center of town and trading cement dust for some kind of fibrous dust. And the marked decrease in air quality…
But no – I’m sick. Muscle soreness, headache, no energy, no wherewithal – my god damned skin hurts. [...]

I found that once I moved in close temporal proximity to my moving date, I felt less and less compelled to drag my laptop across town to use the shoddy internet at work, and less compelled to write or… do anything, really. I entered some kind of mental hibernation, awaiting the day I would move [...]

My Chinese is getting better.
No – seriously. Two weeks ago, maybe three, trying to catch the gist of a conversation was like this massive linguistic struggle of epic proportions that left me tired, exhausted, and frustrated. It was like trying to follow one ripple in a river, if you catch my meaning.