My first sunrise in China, unemployed.

As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, as of June 30, 2009 at 10:19 am (GMT +8) I joined the ranks of the unemployed. My contract ended, they school paid me off and gave me the official release letters. No more will I be hailed with the moniker, “Teacher.”

No more students, no more books, no more boss’s dirty looks. For me, as Alice Cooper said, school is out forever. No more teaching English in China, no more being el instructor grande of English as a Second Language.

Okay, I’m only temporarily unemployed.  I have a job to start in a few weeks, after the return of Mrs. Stevo and perhaps a bit of travel. What is that job? A few of you have asked, in comments and by email. When all the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed I’ll let the cat out of the bag.

Every day is a new beginning. It’s easy to get mired in what seems a daily grind, the proverbial rut. Sometimes you need to take a step back and see each day for what it is: A new start. Here’s to a fresh start and new beginnings. For today, it’s a 6:15 pm flight to Shanghai and the Interphoto & Digital Imaging Shanghai (Show) from July 2-5? Visit me at the Phottix booth at the Shanghai Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center. I’ll be easy to spot: The smiling white guy.

aside: I recent lamented to Norm that China has weak clouds. After last week’s typhoon the sky has been filled with big puffy monster clouds (see above). It’s a pleasant change.

ESL Teachers and a student take part in a basketball game as part of a school charity event in Shenzhen, China.

When I worked for a newspaper I loved shooting high school sports. The weather this day didn’t agree with me. This image looked much better before the JPG conversion. And, I’m way out of practice.  Michael at Expatriate Games has a great description of basketball in China (the nation is crazy for it). I recommend reading it.

The two weeks of sunshine were a tease. I spent most of the weekend inside thanks to torrential downpours. June 1 signals the start of the Pacific typhoon season. A school day canceled because of a typhoon is always welcome. Five weeks and counting…

I haven’t had much to say lately. Things have been busy. Finishing one phase of your life, and planning for another, is not an easy task, especially when government bureaucracy is involved. Such is life in China.

Random Conversation

As I sat on the 777 from Beijing to Shenzhen, a small boy, maybe six-years-old, climbed into the aisle from the bank of seats to my front.  The lad’s eyes opened wide when he spotted me. There was a brief consultation between the boy and his father before he walked over to me.

“Good morning,” he said.

It was 6 pm.

“Good morning,” I replied, my young-learners happy face prominent.

He stared at me, concentrating.

Finally, he said, clearly and loudly, “Snake.”

“Yes,” I parroted, “Snake.”

“Snake,” he said again.

I nodded. “Snake.”

Then he ran back to his father and I returned to Michael Palin’s Himalaya on my iPod. I am willing to bet that good morning and snake are the only English words he knows. I wonder about the curriculum of his kindergarten.

The Stevo eats Beijing Roast Duck. Yes, it is tasty.

Random Thoughts

Beijing Roast Dusk is as tasty as you have heard. Consuming it with 26 bottles of beer makes it more so. I wonder if Madame Donna can make it?

Don’t be in Tiananmen Square while experiencing distress in your lower GI tract. The square is 40 acres, and it is a long hike to the facilities.

Real men eat chili peppers, even if it leads to abdominal distress (see above).

The woman on a street corner that offers you a massage at 1:30 am is not really offering you a massage.

Don’t ever take a Hong Kong MTR train at 6:00 pm on a Friday afternoon. If you must, lube up first to increase your chances of  getting in and out of the train and station.

Half-asleep dreams, where your wife is so close you can touch her are sweet, but few and far between.

Watching three dogs try to mate is funnier after consuming too many beers than it would be sober.

Yogurt can be an almost adequate substitute for mayo when making tuna salad.

When one door is closed, don’t you know, another is open.
Bob Marley

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The Bocca Tigris is the area near Humen, China, where the Pearl River dumps into the South China Sea. Three forts, build before the First Opium War, cover the strategic passage (They didn’t help). The forts are still there, as is this more modern building.

With most Chinese cities densely populated, why not take to the water?

Yay! It’s a long weekend in China. Monday is Qing Ming Jie, or, Tomb Sweeping Day. On this day people pay respect to their ancestors by cleaning tombs and making offerings of food, liquor, and ghost money. Qing Ming has been a holiday in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for years. It wasn’t until 2008 that China made it a national holiday (it was celebrated before this, but not recognized).

My move went reasonably well. The movers decided to carry my desk upside-down, and it broke apart. The fight that ensued between the woman from my department overseeing the move and the movers, was interesting. She blamed them, they blamed the desk. In the end the school repairman put it back together with L brackets and chewing gum. After it was placed in my bedroom he told me to never move it. Great.

Given their lack of coordination, I didn’t allow the movers to touch my computers. I did that, making two trips, half-a-mile each, carrying a monitor and CPU each time. And I went to gym later in the day. Computers, like sheets and blankets, are much heavier than you would think. Buff, The Stevo will be buff!

I’m working on my laptop. Trying to wire three bedrooms for the internet is a perplexing problem. I don’t want wires running all over the apartment. Wireless will do for now. I see a large purchase of ethernet cable in my future…

I’m off to Hong Kong today. WordPress is holding one of their famous WordCamps in the former British colony. I’m meeting up with one of Shenzhen’s other expat bloggers, meeting WordPress president Matt Mullenweg, and hopefully getting some free stuff. Like I need more stuff, my life is now a collection of boxes full of stuff.

The photo above is of the Crystal Bridge in lovely Guilin, China. I’m somewhat limited, photo-wise, at the moment. I have no network and access to my images. I didn’t want to deprive those that come here for the photos, not my bad prose.

To one and all: Have a great weekend!