Monday, June 14, 2010

I Need a Vacation

I need a vacation. Not from work, I don't really do much that could be accurately described as work, but just from China. I'm just tired of how things work here. I'm tired of things that should be easy being incredibly difficult and complex. I'm tired of having conversations where I have no idea what the other person is trying to say and I have to ask them about 15 times to repeat themselves. I'm tired of everything involving 10 layers of bureaucracy. I'm tired of not being able to see the horizon. I'm tired of looking at something I'm eating and going, "what the hell is that?" I'm tired of the weather which is hot one day and cold the next but always intensely humid. I'm tired of the students who don't want to even try to answer some pretty straight forward questions. I'm tired of the internet not working in random and confusing ways. I just need a break from China. I'm not saying I'm done with China, I don't regret my decision to come back for another year, but I just need a break. A few days ago some old guy spit almost right on my shoes and I barley even noticed. I just sort of have China fatigue at the moment. I'm glad the semester is almost over because I really need to go back to a place where things make sense to me even if just for a little while.

4 comments:

Ken F said...

This quote from an article about the Chinese military perfectly sums up what is (to me) the worst thing here: "an agenda to deliberately foster ambiguity -- a well-established approach in both ancient and contemporary Chinese competitive thinking." (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/06/09/chinas_got_a_secret?page=0,0)

Sarah Sanderson said...

right there with you DTMS! I am excited to head back to America for about 8 weeks - woo hoo!

bob davis said...

We just returned from the Outer Banks, with its clear blue water. DC is green and lovely. And on Monday we're getting a new A/C system (honest). You'll like being home.

Deb Bruno said...

Sounds like a case of burnout to me. Nothing ever goes wrong here, of course. :)