The Tragedy in Tiananmen

Much has already been said in the 20 years since the Chinese government’s heavy crackdown on a series of student-led demonstrations in and around the area of the Tiananmen Square in Beijing. A good part of my past month or so had been spent digging up those materials, reading and watching everything I could find about the events leading to June 4, 1989, the day when tanks rolled in crushing bodies underneath them, and the military fired at the protesters made up mostly of unarmed students and workers. Until now, 20 years after, the death toll remains a mystery. The Chinese Red Cross initially reported that 2,600 died, but retracted allegedly under pressure from the government. Some journalists estimated that the number could be as high as 7,000. The official tally, however, concluded that less than 300 died and 7,000 were injured.

(To read the rest of the entry, click here.)

Biting into the China Cake

I am taking a break from writing my special report on China's social unrest to retain my sanity. At least whatever's left of it. If you remember how it was back in school, two weeks before the final paper is due, then you'd have a fairly good idea how I feel every time. At best. Because unlike being in school where you have the whole term or at least half the term to fret about what to write, I have all of two weeks. And my heart would beat even faster as the days start passing me by...

As if that wasn't bad enough, I now also write special reports on top of the regular reports. It's like another term paper, only the deadline is more flexible. But not too much because then it would never get written. That's what I'm doing now: making sure it gets written. But then what's so special about it is that its scope is usually wider and the information more detailed. So I'm trying to work those in, aside from just getting it written.

The sense of intimidation emanates from the fact that I have only quite recently started serious reading of Chinese affairs. Every time I approach a topic, I would have at least 30 pages of research (font 9 because I want to save as much paper as I could) to read through before I can confidently convince myself that I know enough of it to write a credible article. And that's still only little crumbs of a much bigger cake that is China itself. Five thousand years of civilization! Can anyone blame me for feeling inadequate? I am always just trying to catch up at best.

And so everyday I calm my nerves enough to take a little bite and chew what I could handle. Never mind that it terrifies me to read about, we're not even talking about writing yet, inflation and how the yuan's rise impact the lives of both foreign investors and ordinary Chinese. Never mind that I didn't even know where Tibet was on the map previous to the riots that erupted there in March. Never mind that I could not identify more than half of the African countries China is now dealing with if not because of an article I had to write about the Sino-African relations.

And then comes the confession. Some masochistic part of me enjoys this biweekly torture. Maybe precisely because it reminds me of school. Or maybe because I am genuinely interested in the readings, except more often than not I wasn't made aware of their existence until I was already chewing on them. Or maybe I really am just a masochist.

And so break's over. Time to cram for my term paper due tomorrow.

Kunshan, 23-24 Sept 2006

We went on an overnight trip to Kunshan, a neighboring city. We visited some temples where taking pictures were not allowed, a rock exhibit and an old house. Of course I couldn't follow what the guide was saying. Sigh.

Zhejiang Day 4: QianDao

QianDao means Thousand Islands. Basically, we went island hopping.

There was an island with different kinds of locks on exhibit. Thousands and thousands of locks in different shapes and sizes. Then there was another island with thousands and thousands of fish in little ponds. Wait, no that wasn't an island. It was like a boat. Anyway, those fish were very hungry. I'll also upload a short video of them later.

Then there was an island with different kinds of birds. One of our hosts gave me a small packet of bird food. Coach WangYueFang said, "I'll take your picture while the birds feed on your hand." I said, "That would be great!" I went in, the birds flew all over me: my hair, my clothes, everywhere! I screamed and screamed and screamed. Then I threw the little packet so they'd stop coming near me. I think I discovered that day that I don't like birds when they're not in their cages. No, let me rephrse that. I don't like them when I'm also in their cage.

And then we took a cable car to another island where we can see views of the many islands nearby. Coach WangYiFu had to sign thousands and thousands of autographs and pose with thousands and thousands of strangers who wanted his picture. The price of fame...

This is the last of the Zhijiang series. There should have been a day 5 but my camera ran out of power the morning of day 4 and I was stupid enough not to bring my charger. I wasn't able to take pictures of our gondola-like mode of transportation, or the house of LuShun, a famous writer, and many other things which are all a blur now.

Zhejiang Day 3: Xihu, Hangzhou

On our third day, we went to a pagoda that's said to have a white snake trapped under it.

Zhejiang Day 2: Haining City

On the second day, we went to the neighboring city, Haining and visited one of the tourist places there: the house of Xu Zhi Mo, a famous poet. It reminded me of ancestral houses in southern Philippines.

After that, we went somewhere (it's all becoming a blur now) to watch the tide. You may also watch a video of that tide in my video section.

Zhejiang Day 1: New Century Hotel, Hangzhou

We were out of town from September 12 to 16. We stayed in a hotel in HangZhou, about two hours away from Shanghai by car. We were in the hotel the whole day for the first day. We were given 200RMB worth of stubs each to spend on whatever services the hotel offered. I spent my 100RMB on a whole body massage during the day.

At night, we had dinner with the mayor, then went to a KTV wherein I sang a song with him (see Nuna, our mayor is not the only one who parties), and danced with so many people (kinda like ballroom dancing so I just allowed myself to get dragged) that I don't know how many feet I stepped on nor how many times my feet were stepped on.

After the KTV, Anthony, XiaoDing and I had a foot massage then a whole body massage (again, for me). It turned out that Anthony had more than 600RMB worth of them stubs because a coach gave him his share, or something like that. We went to bed at around 3am. Two body massages and one foot massage in a day. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that would happen.

Almost Pinoy

It says "FeiLuBin xiao tian bao" which roughly means "Philippine small sweet bread." They may look like pandesal but they don't taste like pandesal. Don't be fooled.

These are some of the things that reminded me of home. The pictures of the DVDs were taken in my suking pirated DVD shop back in TieLing. The pandesal was part of breakfast with Troy during my 2-week stay with him in Beijing.

Catholic Churches in China

I started taking pictures of Catholic churches in China because I didn't think there would be any at all. The three pictures from TieLing are of the same one.

These made me smile...

DoReMi

Being a foreign teacher, it is an unwritten rule that I'm a walking advertisement for the school. From time to time, I have to subject myself to complete and utter humiliation through "performances by the foreigner." Think of a freak show. Yup, that's what I do. On the 26th of June, my students I were tasked to sing "Do Re Mi" (Doe a deer a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun...) from "The Sound of Music" in front of a crowd that had gathered... I don't even know where that was. Anyway, here are the pictures to document our embarrassment.

My Adorable Kids

I know I'm not supposed to play favorites, but this is my favorite class. And because I know I'll miss them so much, I took these pics.

Me and My Southern Accent

I should really be used to it by now but I still find it funny anyway.

This morning, I was wandering aimlessly at the market just outside my compound trying to find something to eat. That's one more thing that I like about my new house: the market is just a minute away. I thought I hit the jackpot when I saw a vendor selling what seemed like taho. Taho! I had not had taho in ages! It only cost 5mao (half a yuan, which means about P3.50). Thinking how lucky I was, I asked for an order. I wanted to ask the woman to put more arnibal into the taho but was a little too late since she was already tying the translucent plastic. Just to be sure though, I pointed at the brown syrup and asked, "这是甜的吗? (Is this sweet?)," The woman looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. "不是!是酸的. (No! It's sour.)" My eyes widened. I didn't know whether to risk it or just go find something else to buy. "你认为是甜的吗? (Did you think it was sweet?)" I nodded. Curious glances from everyone within three meters. "你是哪里人? (You're a person from which place, or basically, Where are you from?)" I was still too shocked thinking about sour taho that I was not able to answer. How is it possible to have sour taho?! She gave my original taho to the woman beside me and decided to give me the taho without the sour brown liquid, telling me to just put sugar in it if I wanted it sweet. "行. (Ok)," I said, dazed. As I was about to go, I heard the curious onlookers talking about me. "是南方人. (A Southern person or She's from the South.)," said the woman's husband. I turned back to look at him then said, "什么?我是菲侓宾人. (What? I'm a Filipino.)" Exclamations of surprise from everyone within hearing distance. I then went home, not forgetting to buy sugar from the corner grocery store before going up the six flights of stairs.

So there I was, watching "Sylvia" and putting sugar on my taho as I contemplate on my Southern accent.

Of course it is not at all surprising, having learned Chinese from Southern people as I was growing up. But for the life of me, I can't tell the difference! I can't hear my accent! I know, I know, it's because I'm so used to it and all. But just for a moment, I want to hear how I sound like and how it's different from the way most people sound in this part of China. And if I do go to the South, I'm sure they'll hear some other weird accent from me too.

When I first came here, Wendy once commented that Jesse, another foreign teacher at the time, sounded like a child when he spoke Chinese. I asked if I also sounded like a child. She said no, maybe someone from a different part of China. I did not ask her to be more specific as I didn't really know much about Chinese geography, much less their accents.

Recently, I asked Lynn if I sounded like a foreigner if I talk in Chinese. She said no. I sounded like someone from the South. "Oh-kaaay..." I said as I chewed on this piece of information. "But I like it," she was quick to add, probably afraid that she offended me. "I like listening to you talk in Chinese. Very soft." "Hmm..." I said. "Men like it too. That's why Andy..." I was already laughing so hard she didn't get to finish her sentence. She likes teasing me about men and Andy, in particular. The first Andy.

Anyway, that made me realize why people like repeating what I say in a sing-song tone. Or sometimes they talk to me with an exaggeratedly weird accent. It never made much sense before. I knew it had something to do with the way I sound but it's clearer now that it's because I sound "soft." Sorry, maybe this only makes sense to me.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing my ancestors injustice by denying to have come from the South. But then again, it would be hard to claim that I am from a place that I've never been to. So until that day, I will have to content myself with my Southern accent.

The HSK Adventure

It is finally over. After agonizing for almost a month, the mad haphazard studying of the last week, and the panic-filled nightmares of the past days, the HSK has come and gone.

After my classes last Saturday, my friend Vivian and I took the hour-long bus ride to Shenyang. We decided it would be better to stay overnight in Shenyang since I had to be at the examinees' meeting place at 750 in the morning on Sunday. Both Andys (Andies :p) had expressed willingness to accompany me but for a variety of reasons, I decided Vivian would be the best companion for this trip. I promised Andy1 he'd go with me to get the results though.

Vivian, having graduated from LiaoNing University where the test was going to be held, expertly guided me through the huge maze-like campus. She reserved a room at the hotel in the university the night before so everything went smoothly except for my nerves which were jumping around with anxiety. I brought four of my books which I didn't really use because I was too nervous to review.

It was nice. Sort of like an overnight vacation. Hotels always give me the feeling of an adventure waiting to happen. We had a value-for-your-money-barely-able-to-finish dinner and breakfast at the university canteens (two different ones). The one where we had dinner in reminded me too much of College Canteen in La Salle. Except it's more expensive in LS :p. Maybe canteens look the same all over the world.

Due to stress, or the cold, or both, I developed a slight fever and cold by the time we were about to sleep. It was nothing major, just the uncomfortable feeling of being sick. I started to feel it coming last Friday but I ignored it hoping it would go away by the time Sunday rolled over. By Saturday night, it seemed to intensify a bit and I was very worried. I took a tablet of Neozep before bed and first thing in the morning when I woke up. I was still feeling a little sick by the time I was about to take the test but of course, the test had to go on. Went on, it did.

I think I was more afraid of not understanding the people around me than of taking the test itself. I had nightmares of not being able to understand the examiner's instructions or something as important and I would just stare blankly as everyone, save I, did as we were told.

So Vivian took me to the meeting place. We were to gather in front of the College of International Students Building, then take the rented buses to another branch of the University, near the countryside, to take the test there.

When we reached the building, I looked fearfully at all the other people who were going to take the test when I saw a familiar face. When I registered about a month ago, there was a friendly Korean girl who was also taking the test for the first time. When I saw her again that Sunday, I immediately grabbed her arm and almost screamed at her face, "We've met! Do you remember me? Do you remember me?" She stared at me blankly and I realized I should be talking in Chinese so I said, "你认识我吗? 你认识我吗? (Do you recognize me? Do you recognize me?)" I don't know why I felt the need to say everything twice at that point. She nodded weakly and I tightened my grip on her arm. I did not know a single soul there and I needed to hold on to something, even if it was a skinny arm.

On hindsight, I'm not even sure if she really was the girl I met that day I registered. I only saw that girl once for a few minutes, how could I have recognized her among more than a hundred other Koreans? Uh oh. Good thing I'll never see her (or them, if they're two different people) again.

She allowed me to drag her into one of the buses and we sat together. I even took a picture of us. Hahaha! She must have thought I was a real nutcase. She brought me comfort. That was all I needed at the moment. There was one time when I opened my bag and she saw my books. She took a good look at them then pointed at one saying, "我也有这个." (I also have this). I asked if she studied it well, and she said it was too hard. I heaved the biggest sigh of relief through all my stressful HSK adventure and thanked god a number of times. I said, "我也那样想! 我认为我自己想那本书太难. (I also think that way! I thought I was alone in thinking that that book is too hard.)," then thanked god again several times. I was only talking in Chinese to be understood so I didn't care if it came out ungrammatical or awkward.  

Oh no, maybe it really wasn't her. Because if we registered at about the same time, shouldn't we be in the same room at least? Or maybe the HSK people shuffled us up so friends wouldn't end up sitting together or being in the same room together. Here's my rough estimate of the nationalities of the people who took the test: Koreans=89%, Russians=9%, Indians (or any Middle Eastern people)=1.3%, Filipino=0.7% (that's me!).

She immediately got rid of me once we reached the test site though. I think I might have scared her a little. Once she saw her friends, she bade me goodbye. Oh well.

I must say that these Koreans were very efficient. There were a couple of booths giving away free tea and chocolate drink in the building. There were a bunch of Korean writings on them and I had not the slightest idea what they meant. I did not know if these freebies were only meant for their fellow Koreans but since I could pass for any Asian nationality, I got myself a cup. I was careful not to say anything though. Couldn't afford to blow my cover, just in case.

We were guided to our assigned rooms and seats. As luck would have it, I was seated right in front, dead center. I would have been really stupid if I wasn't able to understand the instructions then since the examiner was demonstrating what should be done as she said them.

Expectedly, the test was hard. I guessed the answers for more than half of the test. The two guys seated to my right were annoyingly noisy, whispering to each other the whole time we were taking the test. I was sure they were copying answers from each other although I could not understand a word of what they were saying. They were talking in Korean. About ten minutes before the end of the test, the lady from the HSK office (she was very encouraging when I registered. There were two women in the office that day. She was the nicer one.) entered the room. Taking advantage of the disturbance, the two guys exchanged questionnaires. (We had a questionnaire and an answer sheet. These guys were also putting their answers on the questionnaire with the intention of exchanging them at the right moment and thus being able to compare answers.) The HSK lady was too sharp for them though. She swooped down on their papers and said, "不要考了. (Don't take the test anymore.)"

"Finally!" I thought. 

I didn't really care what they do but they were too irritating. They could at least try to be more quiet. I was trying to read! In Chinese, for chrisakes!

I think they'd still compute their scores though. Lucky bastards.

After the test, Vivian and I shopped a little. After exhausting ourselves walking around the malls for what seemed like hours, we finally decided to go home. It was on the bus that I found out that it was Vivian's birthday! I felt really terrible because I wasn't able to get her anything and she'd been really great about helping me with just about everything. She assured me that I shouldn't worry about it. The ride home was pretty much uneventful.

The results will be out after six weeks, at least. Oh, and I was well again when we got home.

First Date

After almost eight months of being in China, I finally went out on my first date. Yes. Despite the marriage proposals and the i-love-yous minutes after meeting me, this is the only time I got asked out on a date. Sort of. At around 8pm last night, my phone rang: (Due to insistent public demand, by public I mean more than one, I'm going to add the English translations where I deem necessary :p)

JC: Hello?

Andy: Hello. My name is Andy.

JC: Yes, I know.

Andy: Ni you shi jian ma? (Do you have time?)

JC: Umm... Ni xiang zuo shen me? (What do you want to do?)

Andy: (I can't remember the exact words but it has something to do with going out to play)

JC: Umm...

Andy: Ni zai nar? (Where are you?)

JC: Zai jia. (Home)

Andy: Wo zai ni lou xia. (I'm downstairs. Literally, "I'm in your downstairs.")

JC: (taking a moment to register what he just said) Ni zai wo lou xia...

Andy: Dui. (Right.)

JC: Ni zai wo lou... ohgod, you're downstairs!

Andy: (silence)

JC: (almost screaming in panic) You're downstairs! (Started putting on more clothes.)

Andy: (silence)

JC: Ni shi... ni shi... ohgod. Ni shi zai Chang Qing Yuan ma? (You are... you are... ohgod. You're in Chang Qing Yuan? Chang Qing Yuan is the name of my compound.)

Andy: (relieved to realize that I did understand what he said) Dui! Dui! Wo zai Chang Qing Yuan. (Right! Right! I'm in Chang Qing Yuan.)

JC: (rushed to the window and looked out. No one.)

Andy: (asked which building is mine. Again, I can't remember how to say that.)

JC: Um... um, mei shi. Wo xia lou zhao ni. (No problem. I'll go down and look for you. Grabbed my bag, checked for money, keys, phone. Saw my dictionary and grabbed that too. Something told me it was going to be useful that night.)

Andy: Mei shi. (No problem. And something that basically means stay just outside my building and he'll come and find me.)

JC: Um, ok ok.

So that was how it started. The date, I mean. Weeks before, Wendy texted to say that her students would like to invite me to dinner. I said, sure. She said, "...and there's a cool boy who want to make friend with you..." Hehe, ok. Wendy described him as "very cute. Cuter than the boy in the party... tall..." and that "He really wants to be your boyfriend," which elicited a "Hahahahaha!" from me. She said his plan was to first have a translator then little by little be able to communicate with me. More of the "hahahahahaha!" here. Unfortunately, during the night of the dinner, I was too dizzy to even eat anything much less go around meeting cool boys so I had to beg off. A couple of nights ago, the dinner finally pushed through.

First impression: He's not that cute. He's not that tall. Cool? Um, what exactly is the definition of cool?

Wendy whispered that "he said he's going to take you home tonight and that he's going to ask you out to dinner tomorrow." "Hahahahaha! Ok. Hahahahahahaha!"

Dinner was uneventful. Tide said that it was so much easier to talk to me now. Everyone was amazed that I could understand what was being said. They were even more amazed whenever I'd say something in Chinese.

In Chinese, Andy asked where I live. I said Chang Qing Yuan.

Betty, another student: Chang Qing Yuan, wo zhi dao. (Chang Qing Yuan, I know that place.)

Andy: Wo ye zhi dao. (Me too.)

JC: Ok.

Still in Chinese, Andy said, we were going in the same direction so we might as well go together later.

JC: Ok.

Betty: (looked suspiciously at him) Don't you live in the north?

Andy: No.

Betty: You always go to the north after class. You have two houses.

Andy: Yes. Tonight I live in the south.

I wonder if they knew I understood what they were saying.

And so we walked home together, not without a lot of teasing from the other students when we were leaving. I must say that the walk home was quite pleasant. He managed to keep a steady flow of conversation despite our language barrier. And he was patient in explaining Chinese words that I didn't understand. About halfway home, he took out a small piece of paper and said that those were things that he had to say to me. He asked Tide to write the sentences down for him. A cheat sheet, he said. While he was looking for it in his pocket, he told me not to laugh at him. He started reading. Among others, there were "I will call you," and "Do you have free time?" I think he became cuter during that walk home.

So last night, after he found me where I was standing in front of my building, he asked me to close my eyes. Except that I couldn't understand what he was saying so he pointed at his eyes and closed them. So finally I closed my eyes and pointed at them and asked, "Is this what you want me to do?" "Yes. Yes." He gave me a rose. Awww! Sweet!

He took me to a nice little coffeeshop cum internet cafe where you can also rent some board games and stuff. We played a tic-tac-toe-like game wherein you have to form a straight line with five stones. He won the first game, I won the next three, then he kept on winning, then it was pretty much even after that. I caught him letting me win once though so I started having doubts on my wins. Bastard. Cute bastard. We also played the soccer game with the little toy players where I definitely beat him, 3-1. Um, maybe he let me win again? Damn.

It was fun. I had a really great time. I got home at a little past 12 and I still have class beginning at 830am the next day. Aaaaargh! In my fourth class today, I was doing everything I could to keep awake. And I had one more class after that.

There most probably will be a second date. And I do hope the next time he doesn't just show up on my doorstep... Now I have to catch up on lost sleep.

Stupid Calendar

I am soooo mad!

Here I was perfectly happy in my own little world in front of my computer when I heard a knock on my door. I took a peek and saw a tiny woman outside. She seemed harmless enough so I opened the door. It turned out that she was selling calendars. I politely said, no, thank you, I don't want one and tried to close the door. Because the door opens away from me, I couldn't close it without her stepping aside. She was standing between me and my door.

She kept on pushing a stupid red calendar with a drawing of a chubby man with long moustache to my hand. She proceeded to tell me the advantages of having a calendar in the house, and not just any calendar but this one with the stupid red Chinese characters and equally stupid red drawings which, I am assuming by the way she was talking and pointing at them, would bring me luck and happiness for the rest of the stupid year. I repeatedly said no, I don't want it, I don't need it, I'm busy, please go away. This went on for a long time. She said it only costs 1RMB and even showed me a 1RMB bill. 

She managed to step into my house. She was very insistent. At one point, I started to be scared of her. She could just push me away and grab my bag, which was conveniently within her reach, and run. She even tapped it a few times when she was asking for the money. And I wouldn't be able to chase her because I wasn't wearing enough clothes to be outdoors, chasing a stupid woman with her stupid calendars.

I gently pushed her but she was surprisingly heavy for such a small woman. And she smelled bad. Plus she was coughing at my face that I got really disgusted and gave in. I gave her 1RMB for the stupid useless calendar. When I handed her the coin, she asked for one more, holding up two fingers. She said it was 2RMB. The nerve!!! This made me really mad. I reached for my money and said, then I don't want it. You said 1! She had the coin securely in her hand. She just turned around and went upstairs to undoubtedly the next victim. But one more equipped for battles such as this. I feel so angry and helpless and I want to slam her head to the wall!

Grrrr!!! I am never opening my door to anyone ever again!!! 

Life in China 2

Reality Bites... and so does the cold

Two months in China has done for me what more than twenty-five years in the Philippines never did: I gained ten pounds. Conclusion: China is fattening. There must be something in the food. Or it might be the beer. Or the air... Hmmm.

Speaking of air, it is becoming colder and colder. Today, I could hardly move my fingers as I was walking to the school. I was wearing two layers of clothing, mind you. And even when I was indoors, I could still feel my knees trembling. I really need to go and buy winter clothes. The thing is, I have no idea what kind. Waaaa! Blame it on my being raised in a tropical country.

I am gradually settling into my life here. I have gotten used to the different sights of the city, sometimes brutal sounds of an alien tongue, and even the smells of bathrooms (although I wish they'd do something about that). I want to come up with a schedule of sorts though. I've been out almost every night for the past two weeks and if this goes on, my novel is going to go nowhere. And I will never be able to forgive myself if that happens. So it won't. Trust me on that.

In the beginning, I would tell myself that if I really couldn't stand it, I could always just go back home. I would have had my little adventure, then it would be time to go back to reality. I remember describing to a friend how I felt that time. How it was like I was floating somewhere above me. I was saying the right things, doing what were expected of me, but I wasn't really there. It was like being in a dream that I could wake up from when I want to.

When things started to slowly and steadily become a reality, I'm not really sure. This has ceased to be a dream, but has turned into my life. Real life. And it's not something I could run away from if something upsets me. It has become my reality. And I'm living it.

After two months...

Today, it is exactly two months since I boarded the plane that will take me all the way from the land of my birth to the land of my ancestors. And here is what my Friendster horoscope has to say about my day:

The Bottom Line

Embrace change today -- new opportunities will create exciting travel opportunities.

In Detail

Right now you feel like you're in limbo, but think of it as more of an astrological waiting room rather than a grey area. You're actually preparing to do something rather daring or out-of-character. Perhaps you're ending an old friendship or relationship that's too limiting, or ready to renew an alliance that has some life in it yet. The stars encourage (and reward) bravery, so get ready, get set ... and go!

Reasons for Coming to China

A lot of people are asking me why I decided to come to China. I agree that it's a perfectly valid question. I would want to know why people are doing whatever it is they're doing too. I'd probably ask the same question if the situation were reversed. However, if you've heard it ten thousand times, it can get very tiring. That is why I've thought of making a list. In a way, it'll also be a way of seeing how far I've gone and if I'm really getting anywhere. So in no particular order, here goes:

1. I wanted to experience living on my own. I know this is taking it to the extreme. I'm living alone in a foreign country, whose language I cannot claim to speak well. But then again, it would be next to impossible to convince my family to let me get my own place and live alone in my own country.

2. I've always loved to travel. And I don't mean just go someplace for a week or two, be a tourist, take some pictures and go back home. I want to see how other people live their lives. How they think, what shaped them into the people that they are now. And I want to know these things firsthand. China is a good place to start (for reasons stated below).

3. I was really bored back home. Don't get me wrong. It was great to not worry about anything at all except getting to school on time and having something to talk about with my students. Wake up, go to class, meet some friends, go back home, play with my cousins, help them with their assignments, go to sleep, wake up again the next day... But I've been doing that every single day of my life. I want adventure! Which leads me to Reason number 4...

4. If I'm going to have an adventure, I might as well do it now while I'm still young. I can enjoy it so much more. No real responsibilities like keeping house, kids growing up and needing my attention. Now's the perfect time to be crazy.

5. I wanted to go some place quiet where I can actually sit down and write. There's that novel to finish. Like I always say, I need the solitude. I need to be able to think clearly and, this will sound like a cliche (and it is), connect with my inner self.

6. My mom will get a kick out of this, but I've decided to brush up on my Mandarin. I've always loved learning languages. When I had Spanish in college, I was ecstatic. It was the same way when I tried learning Cebuano. I'm in no way fluent in both languages but it was really fun. While I was given the perfect opportunity to learn Mandarin as a child, it left a sour taste in my mouth because everything was so stiff. It was forced on me and it felt more like a chore. Now, I'm beginning to appreciate it more.

7. This is a homecoming of sorts for me. Which is why I chose to come to China and not any other Asian countries. Aside from the fact that I already know a little Mandarin so it won't be as hard as say, going to Korea or Japan, I wanted to see how it is like to be Chinese in the fullest sense of the word. I know how I always complain that people here are saying I look Chinese all the time. I do not mean to reject my Chinese heritage. I'm proud of it. I'm a Filipino of Chinese descent. There. I just don't think I look Chinese. If I do, I'd be the first to admit it, but I don't. End of story.