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Turtle, sounds like an awesome way to get out and immerse yourself. I know I’m not the only one that walks by those jungle gyms and gets an itch to play around or work out on them.
What part of the city is Xinhua park? Don’t know if I’ve ever been around there. Curious to check it out.
I do love the smell of petrichor, Mr. Klink.
Maz, we’ll miss you bud! I know what you mean about the “romance ending” – one’s relationship with one’s city of residence is anything but simple or consistent. Indeed, there is passion and the excitement of discovery early on, or perhaps anxiety and apprehension in the face of the unknown and mysterious. Later, a growing fondness as you become more familiar with the city, her charms as well as her flaws. You profess your affection but also lament some incompatibilities between the two of you, searching within yourself for the ability to overcome these obstacles to find true peace and harmony in your life in this city.
You may savor the challenge but perhaps not indefinitely, and as you receive the call of a new place, a new city with a different culture and landscape, it can be hard to resist.
Wishing you good luck on your next step. Stay in touch and let us know when you’re back in town 😀
Galimatias makes some groovy, string-adorned beats for Alina Baraz’s sensual vocals. 10/10 still bobbing my head
Honestly, I’ve experienced “mental health care professionalism” in a couple of “developed” countries. You’re better off just getting a dog. That’s not a joke.
Dogs are awesome, but therapy can be as well. Not sure what kind of mental health care is being sought after here – or what kind of therapy you’ve undergone, Goatboy – but I personally believe mental health care can’t be supplanted completely by bestial therapy. Perhaps they make a good match though 😀
I think when people dismiss mental health care and therapy, they refer either to a friend’s or their own bad/ineffective experience with it, judging the science and industry as a whole based on their personal experience. My own stance on this matter is that it’s an extremely personal exercise that’s practiced with varying degrees of professionalism and personality-to-personality suitability (between doc and patient). The lack of quality in various developed countries that you’ve seen/experienced could be due to a saturated market, lack of good training, or some other factor, but I don’t think it’s a condemnation of the practice as a whole. That said, the mental health care options in China are certainly more narrow – not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. Anyways, I’m a supporter of the practice.
source: I am a dog owner and personally underwent ~2 years of cognitive behavioral therapy, also known as “talk therapy”. Ironically, one of the things we talked about a lot at therapy was the dog… but more from a, like, symbolic angle, you know?
I neither like nor dislike Uber – just wondering from where are coming so many ‘Uber fighters’ …
I’ve left a response to your comment on the article, regarding why I chose to write about Uber and why there might seem to be a disproportionately large amount of support or conversation about it. I’ve been hoping the conversation might migrate to the comments section of the article, so here’s a link to my response.
Come with an open mind, and realistic expectations. Not everyone loves it here; a buddy of mine visited and hated it. A 3 month visa is a good length of time to get some idea of this place. Without a degree a full-time legit teaching gig will be hard to get. Surprisingly, the authorities seem to be serious about enforcing this requirement. But lotsa part-time gigs available and most employers will not even ask you what visa you have.Bring a sense of humor with you…..
I 100% co-sign this post. As much as I love it here, I recognize that not everyone has the same experience here. As fun and leisurely as it can be here, there are difficulties specific to the China experience that require a large degree of patience and understanding.
Not having a degree may prove troublesome. However – and I don’t endorse this *ahem* – I know a few people who have forged certificates, made up universities, and created fake diplomas to land positions. It’s not unheard of, it’s not ethical, but it’s also kinda par for the course in China. I guess what I’m saying is, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
Tina… awesome responses! In the age of the internet, when we don’t know who is giving us information, it’s good to share a bit about who you are and why we should listen to you… and it sounds like you’re certainly more qualified to talk on this topic than many others. Thanks for taking the time to respond!
Your comment about self-sacrifice reminded me of my favorite Chengdu Living piece, which is Eli’s piece about living with his mother-in-law. He touched on this and while I haven’t dealt with the phenomenon personally it was illustrated very well and echoes many of the points you made in your response, particularly
the spirit to sacrifice self interest for the interest of close related people,
I have yet to read through your other answers, but thanks for doing this!
edit: sorry, I didn’t read your post. I don’t think Cai Guoqiang has done many paintings besides his gunpowder paintings, which are all one of a kind and not re-printed, as far as I know. I’d love a Yue Minjun print up on my wall, no doubt.
Cai Guoqiang has done some really amazing work over the past 2 decades. He showed at the Guggenheim in NYC several years ago. He also coordinated the pyrotechnics for the 2008 Olympics. He does work in all different mediums, but IMHO his most striking work is his gun powder paintings.
He has no shortage of breathtaking installations though, like “Head On” which features 99 (i think) eerily real handcrafted wolves crashing into a glass wall. His work is striking, technically impressive, and has a fair amount of social commentary to boot. Beautiful, thought-provoking work.
Thanks @Hyobin those are some great resources. That Storify you shared really highlights a lot of the potential pitfalls of the emotional post-disaster desire to do good. A good primer on disaster relief charity in general.
I’m in touch with some local Nepali NGOs now and meeting with the Chengdu Rotary Club to find out how we can work together to help out some of these NGOs. I’ll have more information after that meeting tomorrow.
UPDATE 2
- I’ve spoken with Rotary Club workers who’ve told me that word on the ground is clothing and food are, at the moment, not the most in-demand resources. This is due to several factors, but mainly because the airports are backed up with aid being flown in already, and it will be difficult to get the clothing to where it’s needed in a timely fashion. Money moves faster and cheaper, so the immediate relief needed now is money. Clothing and food drives will happen later on in the relief effort, so stay tuned!
- Wine bar La Cave will be donating 5 kuai from every Kir sold (French wine cocktail) to the Nepal disaster relief effort organized by UFE. Find the address and more information in the image attached to this comment.
TODAY 4/29 4:30 @ Rhombus Hotel Chengdu (address in attachment) BritCham and Rotary Club of Chengdu are holding a meeting on how individuals and companies can help the Nepal relief effort. Check the attachment for more details.
I’m confused about the implied mutual exclusivity of sitting on your bottom and studying hard and using technologically based resources. Are you recommending only using books? At one point, even printed books were considered cutting edge technology. If we don’t use new technology to make processes easier and more efficient, then what’s the point?
Thank you! I had an awful discussion over at r/ChineseLanguage re: “Are Flashcards A Waste of Time”, where the most upovted response was someone who claimed they are indeed a waste of time and you ought to be reading a novel instead… as if one precludes the other.
Reading a novel while creating flashcards in Pleco or by hand is probably the best way to read that novel, but (s)he wouldn’t budge, saying that flashcards have this and that disadvantage, like: they only teach you vocabulary, out of context, without teaching various usages. Fuck. All. That. Noise.
Flashcards – electronic or written – are literally what you make of them. Where you find your vocabulary? Up to you. What information you test yourself on? Up to you. What kind of context, collocations, and grammar/sentence structures you include in your flashcard decks? Up to you. And this goes for just about every study method.
Yes, time is a limited resource, but this idea that “You shouldn’t do that because you should be doing this instead” is totally myopic and misleading to new learners. Everyone has to find out what works for them.
Anyways, back on the topic of this particular infographic: this is information compiled by someone who approached authorities on the topic of studying Chinese, so it is taken for granted that their advice is better than the average learner’s. That said, however, it’s a relatively small sample size, includes amateurs and self-learners such as ourselves, and there is not consensus on any one method. So, take it with a grain of salt and keep an open mind. Like Hyobin, my methods and needs have changed over time, as I assume any learner’s would. The best thing you can do is understand as well as you can the world of language study and try the methods that compel you.
Hope you guys doing watch parties don’t get shut down by HBO, which is what’s happening to the place I used to watch in Brooklyn.
I’ll second 99% Invisible… great short-form podcast.
I also really enjoy WTF with Marc Maron. He’s a sort of curmudgeonly comedian and former drug addict/alcoholic who interviews comedians and writers and generally asks great questions. Only complaint is the absurd amount of sponsors he has to announce. Still a great show though.
