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01.23.08: For everyone that is Chinese and reading this post, please read, understand, take in, and realize the following statement: The USA, much like the rest of the ENTIRE WORLD, does not celebrate the spring festival! Do not ask me if I am going home to celebrate it! Because, basically I am asked this question constantly by everyone I come in contact with during this time of the year; every year. The next question immediately following would be, "How often do you go back home," with my reply being always "if I have money and desire, I will go back home." If I went home now to "celebrate" the spring festival, everyone would be working and I'd be hanging out alone most of the time. A little hard for the people here to understand that their country isn't the center of the universe. Happy Spring Festival. I bet you didn't even know it was coming, did you?
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3 - 01.05.08: The wind doesn't blow; scathing past your cheeks, it convinces you it's colder than it really is; it blisters your cracked lips. My hands are getting older; skin thinning like old images preserved on fluorescent, translucent film from your retired camera hiding in the attic. We are all digital now. An unbroken line of storm clouds. Too many black marks on the permanent record of my spirit. They seem to be punishing me. Where is that passion, that mannish fury? Where was it left? Twenty-eight years old and a slew of unaccomplished accomplishments; torrentially despicable, base, and wicked. Quivering, seismic; distant wailings held secretly behind sound-proofed doors of hotel rooms. Do you remember the burning? Has it come to this? I began a health renaissance. Reviewing my mandatory health checks from 05 until the present, the realization that I had ballooned outward struck me in the face. It's strange being called fat when in most of your life you had been accustomed to hearing how you are envied for your ability to keep shape; 2005 I was 84.5kg; 2006 was 91kg; 2007 was 97.5. Through my relationships, I attained a free membership to the "best" gym in Dongguan - basically means just slightly better than the worst in any other place. I am now 87kg after 3 months of running with a different goal of muscle building in mind. I now realize the food here provides little nutrition and I will probably be investing in some chalky protein drinks soon. Stretch marks, though; testament to my sin. Visible black marks. I sweat amazingly. I'm officially retired from teaching; a career that was dying before I began it. Career death. I refuse to suffer the miscarried education system; the abortion they refer to as learning. University English majors and subject-verb agreement - two concepts that never fall into the same sentence or usage. They are finally beginning to realize their time in school was a sham and I can relate. It's hard when life crashes your party. Daily life is like my 75lbs bicep reps at the gym. The tension of flexing upward, breathe, breathe, don't forget to inhale - I teach Titus Andronicus to my private Lit students. Exhale and hold it, relax, don't strain - one hour car ride to a factory Business English course with the typical poor organization. My torrid muscles that I don't have remind me I should be eating more before trying to run for an hour at the gym as I raise the weight again; breathe and strain - in the wine shop trying to find anything worthy of appreciation and failing. The weights fall after 20 reps and sweat flees from the tip of my nose as I turn my head to the mirror and flex: This is not what I want. This is not what I want. Where are you going and where have you been? I am Huang Han Chuan and my time under this moniker is ending; an hourglass suspended mid air but the sand continues to fall. What is counting down? I am alive. No camera. No proof. Welcome home, Gotham City.
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11.22.06: Wow, more than a year since I last posted... It's an interesting thing that I finally managed to get my website back up again. After having a long and useless battle with a French domain registrar company called Gandi, I had to re-register my website's name under the .com suffix instead of .net. They were such nice folks to hold my domain name for 3 months during a period in which supposedly the site had to be in limbo before it could be destroyed so I could re-reg. There was also a period when I could re-reg to Gandi for like 150 bucks, which of course I didn't want to do. Why was I using a French registrar? Well, at the time that I registered my website originally, the EURO was considerably lower than the USD...you should be able to figure out why. Besides, it was my old roommate's idea. Anyway, 4 or 5 months later, when I finally got the chance to register again, gandi used their registrar service (under a different name) to steal my website. The .net site actually resolves to some European server of some kind. Nothing but water and burnt bridges. I guess the major news is that I'm coming back. You can check the nifty little "when I will be back timer" that I managed to update. I'm shooting for the departure date of DEC 20 in time to do some Western holiday type stuff. You know, Christmas parties, gifts, food....oh, man I want the food. I am going to make a super restaurant run around Eastern NC between the dates of DEC 20 and whenever I decide to come back; which will be a few weeks later. In other news, I published an article in the local expat mag "Here Dongguan" about tea for their NOV issue. Reading it in the toilet a bunch of times, it seems a not very interesting article, but the magazine disappeared from the shelves in nearly every location it is deposited around the city. I'd like to think that it is because of my article and not their adverts about where you can get Western style eats here in Dongguan...hey, it could be true! Anyway, the site will change soon to reflect the new issue, my mom ripped the article and put it in her little blog site that she set up. I have many pictures that I should publish. My camera went for a swim last May, so I need to begin thinking about the investment for another one. Anyway, I want everyone to know that I am still alive...not so well, but alive should do for the time being.
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06.13.05: I know, I know, it was relatively bad to leave such a depressing post on the site for so long; I just haven't had a lot of time to update. I finally got around to buying a new computer, so it will be much easier to add items and pictures to the website from now on. Overall, not too terribly much has happened, but I have traveled to quite a few places around the province now. I have spent much of my time going between Dongguan, Zengcheng, and Guangzhou visiting with Fang and going to various places like the Fangcun tea market. I'll give a brief on it: I guess the first new place I went was to visit my friend Feng and his family. He lives in the Chaoshan area in a city called Jieyang. This area is famous for gongfu tea, and his family runs a wholesale teashop along the outskirts of the city. I spent much time just sitting in his shop and preparing tea for him and some customers, and we also visited a mountain that overlooked the whole city; the name of the mountain escapes me. Nothing that interesting occurred there, but we found that Feng's father was very kind and he took us around the city in his car. The tea business can be very lucrative which is why I am considering some sort of pursuit in that field. My love for tea grows fonder and fonder as the days pass. During May 1 - 7, China has the May Day holiday in which many people get some time off. My time off was so staggered that it didn't afford me much of a trip, but I got to visit the Yangjiang area in a small county called Yangcun. I guess I only spent a day there before coming back and having to have classes. I did get to swim in the ocean. And, then there's Zengcheng; a city where I volunteered some of my time to speak to the students. This stuff is ancient history....
- Old News 1 - Old News 2 - Old News 3 - 03.31.05: The more and more I think about it, the more wracked with emotion I become, and it's hard not to think about everything in this spacious, empty flat. I remember the most vividly when I first saw the coffin that gelid morning, I almost lost control; I just wanted to remain strong in front of his son and daughter. The extent of how undeniably painful it was for all of us was not easily hidden. Even though I didn't know him very well, and we could barely communicate directly, I felt a loss more intense than I could recall. It's 2:04 am and I cannot sleep. I remember the wailing family members, the three somber bows, and the scent of the incense. I remember heads meeting the floor and screaming sobs. A conveyor belt. The teeth-chipping, twisted road to DaXi and the resting of his remains. With the aid of my digital camera, I captured the last images of him in his life; before he was hospitalized. I remember his last good day well; he was able to play Majiang with his family and take some of my money as well as eat with us at the table. It was about two weeks later that it happened. First he couldn't speak, then he couldn't sit up. I suppose my anger and contempt for the hospital staff is what I recall the most about my Spring Festival 2005. The conditions of the hospital were deplorable and the doctors and nurses were uncaring. It leaves me wanting justice...it's the same as when I slapped a cigarette from the mouth of an irresolute smoker on a nonsmoking bus as he was causing an asthma attack in someone nearby and a baby to cough uncontrollably. I'm going to try to sleep again. Four hours of morning classes and then a night class tomorrow. I just wish I could sleep.
- Old News 1 - Old News 2 - Old News 3 - 03.24.05: It has been quite some time, hasn't it? Did you think I abandoned this site and all of you, my readers? So much has happened in the past month, I don't really even know where to begin. I'm in China: The passing of a father. This post is to just let you know I'm alive and I have the internet now, so I can update my website with the India pics and some pictures of Chunjie (Spring Festival). Give me a few more days on this one.....
- Old News 1 - Old News 2 - Old News 3 - 01.08.05: Back from India. Luckily the tsunamis and earthquakes were on the other side of the landmass from where we were, so I'm safe and sound. It's scary to think, looking below at the itinerary: the very second that the 1st tsunami hit ground, I was swimming in the sea on the opposite side of the country. What if? I am still sorting through all the pictures that I was able to snap, but overall I'm not very pleased with them. India didn't seem to be very photogenic; either that, or I couldn't find much that was worth taking pictures of. It's one of those sorts of things that has to hit you. I'll be done picking out the best shortly. I was able to take a few excellent shots of the Taj Mahal. I'll keep you updated. I don't know exactly how to say this. I've bought my ticket for February 5th. I'm going away again for some time. Wish me well, think of me if you have time. I'm going back......
- Old News 1 - Old News 2 - Old News 3 - 12.14.04: Well, India is upon me. I got my itinerary and from what it looks, it's going to be quite the whirlwind tour. I will at least get to see the Taj Mahal; one of the 7 wonders, so I'm obligated. Well, here's the checklist: Dec. 15 Depart RDU to Delhi with stopover in Toronto Dec. 16 Arrive Dehli @ 10:30 p.m. Dec. 17 Sightsee around Delhi (Market, India Gate, Ghandi’s place) Dec. 18 Bev and Nigel’s wedding Dec. 19 Agra Dec. 20 Bombay, Vinny’s wedding Dec. 21 Around Bombay Dec. 22 Leave for Goa Dec. 22-27 Holiday in Goa Dec. 27 Arrive Calcutta Dec. 28 Arrive Dhanbad Dec. 29 Michelle’s wedding Dec. 30 Evening departure for Delhi Dec. 31 Arrive Delhi—say goodbyes and shopping Dec. 31 Depart Delhi Jan. 1 Arrive RDU
I may stop over in Toronto on the way back, so it depends on the return date. This is all I have to report now other than I haven't finished packing yet...and I leave tomorrow, heh. Wish me luck; I'll take lots of pics with my new Canon a95 5MP cam!
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11.18.04: The last of the China pictures have finally been added to the site and some pictures of recent concerts my brother and I have attended. The China pics came from the summer when I visited Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Zhouzhuang. The purpose of the trip was so I could end up in Hangzhou and find a teahouse called "he" but it turned out to be a total disappointment when I found the place became a self-serve dinner restaurant. I was able to secure some excellent, frresh Long Jing (Dragon Well) tea; Hangzhou has the best quality of this particular type of tea. There is actually a small village in Hangzhou called "Dragon Well" and you must go into the homes of the farmers to buy tea directly from them to get the authentic product. It comes in 4 grades; top grade, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 3rd grade. It's quality is measured basically by stem/leaf quality and when it was picked (the earlier the better March/April). Shanghai was also a very interesting place. It was full of tall buildings and shopping centers. What struck me was how clean it was altogether as compared to the other cities in China that I visited. I'm feeling rather uninspired to write anything further at this point. DEC 15 and my trip to India is coming sooner and sooner, and when the year turns, I will probably be gearing up for a return to China or to Japan for more teaching. I will live the American dream...in another country.
- Old News 1 - Old News 2 - Old News 3 - 11.03.04: Two months, ten days, ten hours I have been home. So much and so little has happened, that I don't know exactly what to report. Last week I got to see two concerts: Skinny Puppy on Halloween and Ministry on the 27th and I got pictures with the lead singers and members of both bands. As soon as I get the photos ready, they will be made available for you to check out. For the Ministry show I volunteered for a group called Music for America; their main cause is to try and get younger people politically active and aware. It was interesting trying to pass out brochures on various social topics to a bunch of half drunken goths/metalheads, but it did get me back stage at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach. I wrote a log of our activities for the show, and I will post that in the prose section if you want to read about what MFA does, or is supposed to do. The guy that I volunteered with was pretty cool, and he was smart enough to bring a digicam. Speaking of digicams, I just bought another Canon Powershot; this time an a95, so I will definitely have a method to take pictures in India in December. Hopefully the 5 megapixels that the camera boasts will be able to take as good pics as my 3 MP cam that I had before. ;p My birthday is in 2 days. I have no plans, nor have I even thought about it. I think about where I was last year at this time and wonder about the decisions that I've made. What would have happened if we decided to stay in Langzhong among friends? Such ponder always floats in and out of my head as I sit here mainly alone most of the time, throwing hours away at the computer screen. I remember two birthday parties and more people around for my birthday since I was 8-years and we had a party here. How much do memories fade through the years? I remember so much; nearly all. Bush won, so I must begin to plan my exile; my soul is restless and searches for a pathless ramble elsewhere in the world. I will return in a few days to post the pics of the shows. I am still working on my concluding remarks about China as well. Happy belated Samhain; this site has been up for over a year! Amazing...we have actually had thousands of hits. Who knew that the stories of a boy that escaped to China would interest people?...Zaijian until next time.
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