May Holiday Ramblings

Last week, starting on May 1st was the Chinese May 1st holiday, or Chinese Labor Day, as I just recently found out. The holiday was created in the 1980's as an antecedent to the week long holiday that occurs in October. "If we give the whole country a week off work in October to increase consumer spending, doing the same thing in May will probably cause the same economic results". And so it has. Most people travel around China or return home during this time. My students primarily stayed at school to play video games or they found part-time jobs to earn roughly $3 a day trying to convince people to purchase cell phones or computers.

Lindsey and I went to Chengdu at the beginning of the holiday because I had a conference to attend with the Peace Corps. Officially, the conference is called COS (close of service). All the volunteers still left in our group (44 out of 57) came into Chengdu and we watched a slide show of pictures we submitted, talked about adjusting to life back in The States, discussed jobs, and enjoyed each others company for the last time that we would be meeting as a group. All in all, it was fun to see everybody, but I certainly haven't formed any lasting bonds with the majority of the group. There were some great people, but the fact that we are stretched so far across China, have no money, and seldom meet up, meant that my vision didn't cloud up with tears of nostalgia during the slide show.

Out of our group, it seemed that most people are ready to go home and are not that sad about leaving. There will be about 6 people who are staying in China, 3 of them with the Peace Corps. Otherwise, people are either going to spend the next couple of months circumnavigating the globe discovering lost civilizations and then posting pictures of it on their blogs, going to school to get a Masters degree in International Relations with a concentration in Law or Human Rights, or finding a job. Lindsey and I will be finding work.

This May Holiday, Lindsey and I had planned to travel to Western Yunnan to a town called Zhongdian, which recently changed its name to Xiang Ge Li La (Shangri La). While it is certainly not the mythical Shangri La, it is located in the traditional geographic confines of Tibet and houses a large monastery. So, it's probably alright. Yet, in the end, Lindsey and I were fairly worn down after traveling into Chengdu and then taking the train straight back. Lindsey developed a cough, subsequently got sick and then I got some gross infection thing on my leg, which I originally believed was a pimple, Lindsey made me call the Doctor, which in turn led to my laying down with a heat pack on the thing, taking antibiotics, and then writing the few remaining Chinese characters we can actually remember on my stomach. So, the week wasn't a lot of fun, but we were able to rest and relax a bit. We spent a lot of the time looking for jobs and I even had a phone interview for a Computer Technician job in California. Right now, the future possibilities are Alaska, California, Maine, Alabama, Florida, and South Carolina, all of the places Lindsey has applied to. I've been looking for teaching jobs, but what I'd really like is a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) job, working with a small town. Then, in the fall I'll begin applying to schools to start a Masters degree in either Geography or International Relations the following year, and then who knows where we'll be.

Only 2 more months...

Oh, and he's my barber. He'll cut your hair unevenly for only 3 kuai (36 cents), but he's really friendly and all the old Chinese men sit around at his shop playing cards and chatting.