So I am reminiscing about the beginning of my life after college. As a young man growing up in the Greatest City on earth, Tuscaloosa, one aspires to attend The University of Alabama. By the time he's half finished with school, that Tuscaloosa young man has dreams of graduation and life as a big shot UA Alumnus. Perspective is a constantly changing thing, as ephemeral as a sunset, yet as important as breakfast.
My ideas for life after college went something like: work a few years in China; learn fluent Mandarin; set up shop as international businessman in Shanghai; make wheelbarrow loads of money; retire from Chinese business at age 40 to a ranch in Montana; sit quietly on my porch with a rifle and pistol waiting for coyotes to disturb my chickens; hunt elk in winters; fish for trout in summer... live out life quietly by myself. Thankfully that was a very poor plan that didn't come to fruition! Being alone with buckets of cash is probably misery; I much prefer having a loving wife and beautiful child with a modest income in retail sporting goods.
As the tee-shirts say: "Life is Good." At twenty-four my brain was still developing (boys don't fully mature mentally until 27) so I went through commencement exercises and preparations to work in China with the above mentioned goals in my head. That is a pity, because I feel I would have enjoyed it more if I had focused more on the Lord and less on the world. Nonetheless, by September 1, 2007 I was settled in as an Oral English teacher at China University of Geoscience in Wuhan. That would be my home and career for three years after graduation. I loved it. I miss it. I had some inspiring studies with students and made some of the best memories of my life... most importantly it is where I became friends with my wife!
Eliz and I actually first met at an orientation for Chinese teachers in Montgomery, Alabama. Not love at first sight for her, although I thought she was the prettiest girl there. Anyway it really didn't matter at the time because I was intimidated by her California vibe, what with the Apple Macbook and no southern accent. She didn't think much of me excepting the comment I made about her having beautiful eyes (that's a fact). So my first year in Wuhan I was basically a bachelor discovering the Far East all by his lonesome. I went to Beijing by myself.
The first trip out of Wuhan I took was an overnight train, by myself to Beijing in October '07 to 'see the sights' and have fun. You must understand that I did NOT speak or understand very much Mandarin after being in the country for less than 8 weeks; but I took a phrase book, Lonely Planet guide, and pocketful of courage with me on the trip. One of my students helped me get the ticket beforehand and a friend suggested that upon arrival in Beijing I immediately find an English speaking person to help book my return ticket. This excellent advise was heeded. I remember stopping in at a popular expat cafe in Wuhan the afternoon of my departure, backpack cinched on tight... ticket in hand... telling some folks that I was headed to Beijing for a week. Eliz was present. Both she and her friend were shocked that I was one- traveling alone, two- had no contacts there, and three- had no reservations.
That was fun, pulling into the station with no map, no plans, no hotel reservation... just my wits and a backpack. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I ended up finding maps for sale out near the taxi stand (after of course 1st purchasing a return ticket to Wuhan), then hopping on a bus that hopefully would carry me close to the center of town. The bus I rode to the end of the line, and as I sat perplexed for a while on where I was, a pair of students came and asked me in broken English where I was headed. I said "to the nearest hotel!" They were nice enough to actually walk me a few blocks out of their way to a mid-priced hotel nearby... after 24 hours, I had my bearings and was bivouacked a block and a half from Tiananmen at a very thrifty hostel (less than a block from Grand Hyatt Beijing). I saw the Forbidden City, climbed the Great Wall, did as much fun as one can on a teacher's budget and made it safely back to Wuhan.
I would make many more trips in the three years in China, but just the one trip to Beijing. I don't have much desire to see it again unless I was with my kids. I visited many more authentic places such as Longhui Orphanage, Guilin, Yangshuo, Hong Kong, Xian, Kunming, Nanning, Rongshui, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Qingdao, and others you may not know. Wherever I went, I usually had a fun time haggling and practicing my Chinese. The most exciting journey was from China to Vietnam (Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Nha Trang, Danang, Hoi An, Saigon) then through Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Angkor Wat) up to Laos (Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang) and finally back north into Kunming, China. Eliz, her brother, and I had an unprecedented amount of fun and adventure traveling through Indochina. I don't recommend it to the elderly, expectant mothers, or weak kneed yellow belly.
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中国地质大学 (武汉）
By no means should you get the impression we were only in China to travel. Ninety per cent of my time was spent in and around my university, China University of Geoscience (Dida), in Wuhan. There was plenty to do aside from my teaching schedule, but allow me to give you a brief rundown on my typical week. I taught 4-6 classes per semester of Oral English at 中国地质大学 (Dida) where I lived on campus. A great benefit was being able to ride my bike to work, then ascend six floors without an elevator four days a week. It was a challenge for the first several weeks, but kept me in excellent shape! The teaching schedule of morning classes four days a week, allowed me to pursue other activities in the afternoons and weekends. These included reading, studying with students, playing guitar, exploring town on my bike, cooking, and keeping up with events back home via e-mail and Skype. On Sundays I attended the Wuhan Int'l Fellowship located downtown via 30 minute bus ride.
Getting around using buses instead of taxis was an adventure that I heartily recommend. I'd say my Mandarin conversation skills were 10% book work and 90% bus work. There is no substitute for immersive language learning with people who don't speak a lick of English. When I got comfortable chatting with old folks on the bus, I knew I'd come a long way. Also pointing at store signs out the window and asking locals to confirm meanings helped my reading comprehension. By the time I left China in summer 2010, I had mastered 200-300 characters.
A typical Chinese person will know roughly 2,500 characters to be functionally literate (read newspaper, etc.), while one with extensive education may know 8,000 or more. Most Chinese dictionaries publish 20,000 characters! The beauty of Mandarin and simplified characters in particular, is that the more you learn the easier it gets. Many 'compound words' are made up of two or more very basic characters that combine to create a totally new word. Favorite example for this is "xiăoxīn" 小心 which translates to "caution" in English, but is formed by the characters 小"small" and 心"heart" . So anytime you hear someone shout "Be careful!" it sounds to me like "Little Heart!".
