The Wandering Monkey

It is approaching almost one year now.  I've been out here just about one year.  I think I'll review what has happened, what I wanted to do, what I have done, and what I hope to do next year...

First, I did make the big move out here.  It was a time in my life when I didn't have much going on.  It was difficult to leave the friends I had back home, but I really needed a change, and I have gotten that!

I said I would have learned a lot of Chinese.  I have not, really.  And this is mainly my own laziness/lack of gumption.

I said I would bring swing dancing to Shanghai, and I have.  This was really just sort of a 'why not' plan, but as of right now I am making a living on it.  There have been many times in which I really was getting tired of it and wanted to quit.  Most of the time this was closely related to not having enough money.  But for some reason I have stuck with it and we're doing pretty well now.

At this point, Shanghai feels like home.  I have a lot of expat friends out here.  I have a lot of friends from the dance group.  But because that is in a way my job, or business, I think of my friends outside of the group as probably my closer friends.  I can tell them a bit more about what is really going on.  At all times within the dance group, I have to keep a slightly more 'formal' or 'official' presence, since I am the organizer of the group and I draw my income from it.

My health is overall pretty good.  Physically I am keeping very fit from the dancing.  People are guessing my age to be 26 lately (it is 34).  This is good.  No arguments.

I have more or less dropped out of continual contact from my friends back home.  I still feel like they are my friends, but I don't send messages back and forth with any regularity.  There's my Chicago friends, who I knew from high school.  It's always been the same with them -- I feel they are always my friends and always will be even if we don't say anything for 6 months or even a year.  Then there's my California friends, most of which are from the Bay Area.  I do feel like I'm losing touch with them, but when you are out here in China and dealing with the day-to-day life her, it seems just odd to write back to those friends on a regular basis.  You just don't sit down and say, Today I'm going to write to so-and-so.  Then there's my own blood family.  My own mum keeps tabs on my blog regularly, and she gives news back to my brother and sister.  But I have not been directly emailing anyone there, either.

As far as my life out here goes, overall I am pretty happy.  I get enough from my life out here to keep me satisfied.  There is stress, as with anyone's life, and I have a tendency to be moody, more than the average person.  There are some days in which I really just am not doing well.  It seems to go for a few days at a time, then I'm fine and we just keep going on.  I try to be social as much as possible; this seems to keep me most happy and stable.

I have learned a lot about Chinese culture, but as of the last several months I have not been delving into it too much.  I am happier hanging out with my expat friends.  Trying to communicate in Chinese is really quite difficult.  I can't describe it as 'conversation', really.  I can just communicate basic ideas, and sometimes not even that.

 

For the next year, I see myself in China.  I think it would be a good idea to set a few simple goals:

1) Learn the language

2) Begin a new legitimate career (or make swing dancing an actual business)

3) There is no #3.

 

So, that's it for now.  Glad you are still reading this!

Peace,

-J