CHINA
Country Overview:
“Love the food, hate the government”
I arrived in China in May 2013 and left August 2020. I taught English for awhile, did my master’s of politics & foreign policy at Tsinghua University, worked for a year at China Today, and then two years at Xinhua News Agency. I spent most of my time in Beijing, but also traveled to Shanghai, Wuhan, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Panjin, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xi’an, Sanya, Macau, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Panda Names
China has four new pandas and they set up a contest to name them. If the name you submitted gets selected, they’ll fly you out to the naming ceremony in Chengdu. I think my chances are pretty high
1,000 Pound Club
I'm at a bit of a stalemate with my gym. I haven't set any solid gym goals recently, so by the end of December, I'm aiming to get into the 1,000-pound club - my squat, deadlift, and benchpress should cumulatively be 1,000 pounds.
Current Stats (7.21) @ 90kg
- Benchpress - 115kg - 253 pounds - 1 rep
- Squat - 110kg - 242 pounds - 5 reps
- Deadlift - 130kg - 286 pounds - 3 reps
- Total - 355kg - 781 pounds
I know, my legs are weak, but I'm also working to not bulk up too much because I don't want to look ridiculous when I wear pants. Will update every few weeks or so and see what progress has been made.
Current diet - I recently bought a lot of canned salmon, tuna, oysters, and sardines and I try to eat at least one tin per day on top of regular meals. I stay away from sugar, soda, and fast food, but everything else is fair game. I'm working on trying to cut beer out of my diet, but I'm not a UFC athlete, few beers are still ok. Every two weeks, I'll buy a bunch of fruit and vegetables, blend them in a blender with a bit of water, put them in small ice-cube trays, freeze them, then in the morning, I'll dump a handful of them along with a can of coconut milk into a blender and make a smoothie. I use a silicon ice-tray and the process couldn't be easier.
Supplements - I have a protein shake following my workouts along with two servings of amino acids. After lunch, I take fish oil, a vitamin-B supplement, and a green tea extract pill.
France for the win!
Picked France to win the World Cup before tournament started, could not have asked for a better final match. Glad to see my boys come through and finish strong.
Book Review: A Last Act of Charity
“A Last Act of Charity” by Frank Westworth is a solid read. Initially drawn to it by the cover, it starts out with a crime scene and immediately draws you in. It's gritty, exciting, funny, and captivating, everything you'd expect from a good thriller & suspense novel.
The language was descriptive, and at times, humorous. For example, in reference to sensual rope-tying - “How tight should one pull the silken twine before the reef knot turned into the grief knot?” The only thing that diminished the otherwise fluid pace of the story were the one-word sentences, of which there were many. Tons. Numerous. However, that’s just the author’s style, and since I’m talking about it in a review, it made the story unique.
I didn’t like how the story switched from 3rd person to first person in Chapter 4, despite the chapter title declaring “First Person Plural.” At times, the story also breaks the 4th wall, speaking directly to the reader, which I wasn’t a fan of, but that's just a personal preference.
Overall, the book is an exciting thrill-ride involving crime scenes, action, and intriguing characters who help maintain the pace of the story. The musings of JJ Stoner, the main character, are hilarious and mix nicely with some of the other darker themes of the story. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun read featuring a strong lead and a thrilling plot.
4/5 stars
Update
- My current visa expires in 5 days, and in that time, I need to apply for a new foreign expert's card and a temporary 3-month visa, which will give me enough time to then later apply for a year visa.
- Started my new job at Xinhua News Agency which is a completely different atmosphere than the last place I worked. There are a ton of people constantly moving about, TVs are on, and lots of work to be done, but I like being busy.
- Signed another year contract at my apartment in Andingmen. It's still a 20 minute scooter ride to work, and moving is a pain.
- Listening to a lot of Caloncho lately, a talented Mexican musician
- World Cup games in China play at 8pm, 11pm, and 2am. So far, I've caught most of the 8 and 11pm games, and stayed up to watch Germany barely beat Sweden. I've got France this year, but I hope Mexico wins.
- I designed and printed out a giant calendar (2x1 meters) that covers the next 16 months. Every time I look at it, I think about what I want to accomplish in that time.
- Trying to plan next trip, but can't start figuring things out until I get my new visa
- Feeling a bit isolated lately as I think about how long I've been away from family and friends. I've always been independent, but lately I've been thinking of settling down and what I want to do with my life. Currently, I've gotten as far as coloring in countries around the world that I don't want to live and slowly narrowing the list. Sorry China, but you didn't make the cut.
- Thinking about buying the new iPhone in September, but I think Face ID is fucking stupid and unless it has a fingerprint scanner, will most likely stick with my current phone. A life update about my thoughts on a new phone, riveting stuff I know.
- Started watching "Peaky Blinders". So far, so good. I also recommend "The Rain", a Danish Dystopian tv show. After watching it, I fell into a blackhole on Wikipedia about the linguistics and origins of the Danish language.
- Overall, things are going well. A lot of goals were accomplished recently, such as finding a new job, saving money, publishing my book, and getting a new visa. With so many long-term projects finishing at the same time, I sort of feel a bit empty, almost like I have nothing to do. Besides work and gym, I really don't. With that said, I'm working on flushing out an idea for a new book and aiming to finish a short story soon. Once I get my new visa, tangible evidence of stability, I'll work on setting some more long-term goals that I can work on throughout the year. I'm results-oriented, I thrive on achieving things.
Thanks to everyone who bought my book, talked about it, or liked my post online about it. I never expected to sell a book, it was always about seeing if I could create a physical manifestation of an idea. Now I know I can, which for me, means a lot more than selling 1,000 copies, which would also be cool but let's be real, not likely to happen.
Super Excited
My friend was really excited to get my book. I wonder if she’ll feel the same after reading it
Last Day
Today was my last day at China Today, after having worked as a reporter and editor for one year. I'm grateful for everything I learned and look forward to starting work at Xinhua News Agency on Monday. So far, the plan is for this to be my last year in China, but at this point, I'm just trying to make the job / visa transition as smooth as possible.
It’s Real!
Friend bought my book and I think she was more excited than me to see it in real life. Crazy to see a Microsoft Doc transform into a published novel
You can check out some reviews of the book at Readers' Favorite