Garden of Eden Part 2, ect.

When we last left our hero, he was explaining the unique subclass of foreign men in China who are seemingly in the final throes of their search for a Shangrila. I'm not really sure if that last sentence even makes sense, so I would advise the reader to suck it up and read the post before this.

I'll wait.

Good. Now you're caught up. As I was saying...

The tragic man reveals himself in a very interesting way. Completely unprovoked, he will regail you with stories that illustrate how amazing his life is in China. He will talk about how much money he gets paid, how many girlfriends he has, and how much fun he has. I know, I know...I'm starting to talk like a National Geographic voice over, explaining the mating habits of the lion. Yet, the consistency of the scenario I just described is pretty remarkable. This, of course, may be reaching, but my conclusion is that the Tragic Man desperately needs an attentive audience that helps him confirm everything he is saying. Essentially, he needs someone to nod along, so he can convince himself that his life is downright awesome.

However, this persona always seems to be hanging by a thin thread. You can always feel his lonliness poking through his confident exterior. Oftentimes I get the distinct feeling that even the Tragic Man knows that I'm not buying it. More than likely, there are some common psychological elements at play here. The idea of filling an ambiguous void with girls and booze is nothing new. Yet, what I find so interesting is that China physically represents the last place to look for answers. It really is their last chance at finding paradise. I imagine for some, it would be easy to confuse China for such a place, but after a while, I just know it all comes crashing down.

In way, it feels like many of us have run away to China. The Tragic Man might have bought his ticket to escape a broken life back home, but part of me knows that I bought mine to escape the uncertainties and responsibilities that my future holds. There is no doubt, should China be a limbo state, it has been a very exciting and fulfilling one. However, certain predicaments await my return, completely unchanged since I left them one year ago. Then again, that's one thing that dinstinguishes me from the Tragic Men: I'm coming home, but most of them are not. They will continue to ramble, continue to wander, and continue to search for that Garden of Eden.

In other news...

I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again: Sam and Luing got married! They took a train to Beijing, signed some documents, and probably consumated the relationship shortly afterwards. They have been planning this for quite some time, but there still was an element of excitement to it. It's easy to talk about marraige, but once you take the final step, the foreigner has basically assured him or herself that they are staying in China for a good many years (possibly forever). Even if there is a marraige between an American and a Chinese person, getting a Visa for the husband or wife is still very difficult and expensive. It's been a week since they came home and Luing still laughs like crazy when I call her Luing Burkett. We had a fancy-smancy dinner and a wall shaking party for the two lovebirds last Saturday.

I am now the unofficial piano tester at the music shop I frequent. You see, the only pianos that I can find in China are found in instrument stores downtown. In the beginning, I was forced to pretend like I was interested in buying a piano. I would look at the prices intently and inspect the internal strings. This whole charade was just an excuse to sit down and engage in my favorite hobby for 15 minutes or so. Thankfully, that jig is up and the store owners now expect me to waltz into their store and immediately sit down at a piano once or twice a week. Recently though, the store owners have been using me as a sort of demonstation player for their customers. If someone is interested in buying a piano, they have me come over and put on a show for them. The piano is sort of a new instrument for China and there are close to no teachers in Changsha. Nevertheless, being asked to put on a show feeds my piano ego to no end. It's also nice to finally give something back to the store. Before this, the only contribution I had made was the purchase of a cheap flute that I bought out of embarrassment for being such a freeloader.

HILARIOUS ALERT: Better Believe it!

Every week, the other teachers and I participate in a mandatory English Corner put on by our school, in which we chat freely with the students. Recently however, the organizers have tried to add some flair to the event by creating specific activities for us to do. The only problem is that, contrary to the organizers intent, the activities are sometimes very inappropriate. For instance, at a recent English Corner, students excitedly explained that we were going to be playing a version of "Suck and Blow" with our students. In truth, this game sounds worse than it is, but basically the way you play is by passing some sort of card (credit card usually) around the room by securing it to your mouth by sucking and passing it the next co-ed by blowing. This turns into a simulation of kissing that hardly gets the blood going for most adults in America, but also has no place as a school sanctioned activity involving both teacher and student. FURTHERMORE...instead of a card, the students were using a thin piece of tissue. It was eerie, especially when you consider that my students are very naive and I tend to think of them as little kids. Nobody, other the foreign teachers, recognized this activity as being scandelous, or even borderline sexual. Yet, there they were, pretty much making out with a thin, hardly protective, layer of tissue. When it came time for the teachers to play, we politely declined, leaving the boy sucking on the tissue to contemplate why.

Peace Out
Tommy