Twenty Six
I turned twenty-six a couple of weeks ago and find myself at a bit of a crossroads – as the saying goes, every beginning has an end and every end is a new beginning, but it’s not always clear which way to turn when faced with life-changing decisions. I don’t usually get introspective here but today I want to share with you a couple of stories from my formative years which had a lasting impact on my life today…
Expat Subculture (and why I dislike it)
If you’ve lived abroad long enough you’ve undoubtedly encountered other foreigners who are also there either by choice (like myself) or because they’ve been sent there by their employer. In my experience a lot of them tend to fall into 1 of 2 categories – those who go out of their way to integrate with the local culture and those who band together and try to recreate a feeling of “home” while constantly moaning about how much it isn’t. Read more
Things That Interest Me
To get a sense of what you want to do in life a good place to start is to look at what interests you (and conversely the opposite). This is exactly what I attempted the other day when I basically made a long list of stuff I like. To make things a bit more visual I then thew the list into Wordle which generates pretty “word clouds”. Read more
Hong Kong Moments III
Hong Kong is a mesmerizing city unlike any other. Each time I visit there’s never a lack of interesting streets to wander through and at night the mass of concrete and steel are brought to life by thousands of neon lights. Read more
Finding Mr/s Right in China
For young people in China the pressure to get married (and subsequently have a baby) is often strongly exerted by parents who take every opportunity to nag their children about finding a boyfriend/girlfriend. Men are generally expected to get married by 30 and women by their mid 20′s (25 is considered “old”). The older the child gets the stronger the nagging becomes to the point that going home for spring festival and other occasions becomes a source of dread and anxiety for those still single. Read more
2010 More! More! More!
Looking back at 2009 I’d probably characterize it as my year of travel and exploration in China – I took 24 flights and was privileged to visit and stay in many amazing places I had never been before. Along the way I’ve learnt a huge amount about Chinese culture which continues to fascinate and bewilder me in equal measure. Having become familiar with where things are and how things work, life in Shenzhen has become fairly routine. Given my list of goals last year I thought it was about time to review them and set some new ones for the coming twenty ten:
2009 goals in review:
- Gain basic fluency in Mandarin – failed (while my vocab has improved grammar is still non-existant)
- Improve photography skills – achieved (although I’ve still got a long way to go I’m quite happy with my results recently)
- Get fitter through more regular exercise – moderate improvement (but need to schedule more regular activities)
- Cook more – achieved (and learnt a few new dishes along the way)
- Stay focused and filter out distractions – failed (I read more than ever and have way too many projects on the go)
- Redesign blog template – achieved (you’re looking at it now)
3.5 out of 6 isn’t too bad in my book but the language part is rather frustrating.
2010 goals:
- Create and stick to a schedule for language learning and fitness
- Start a business of some sort and see it through (more on this later)
- Improve writing skills and user participation in blog
- Create more video content and how-to guides
- Visit Japan – something I’ve wanted to do for many years
- Learn how to cope with stress better (and sleep more!)
Finally I’d like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who reads RandomWire – this year traffic has nearly doubled and my only wish is that I had time to write more content for it. In an ideal world I’d love to be able to do this full-time in some capacity but for now it’ll continue as a labour of love blissfully free of ads (although if anyone is interested in sponsorship do get in touch).
As with last year I’ll leave you with an appropriately titled track from the ever-manic Capsule:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEj7cErgXas
A very Happy New Year to all 
Trying to Explain China
When meeting friends and family from home one of the first questions your asked is “What’s it like living in China?“. This always causes me to pause and reflect for a moment because with such a large and varied country where do you start? Given you might only have 30 seconds to pitch life in China it’s wise to have a brief elevator speech ready. For future reference here’s mine:
“Big and Crowded”
Imagine a large crowd of people in the street. Now times this crowd by about a thousand and you’ll get an idea of the population density in big cities here. Forget peaceful suburbia, gardens and privacy, often you feel like you’re living in a battery farm surrounded by high-rise buildings. Everything in China is on an epic scale.
“Extreme Extremes”
Contrary to what you might have heard on the news China is a country full of extremes, both good and bad. Traditional and modern, closed and open, poor and rich, slow and fast all exist together in an uneasy harmony which the government tries to maintain tight control over (with mixed results).
“Life is Fragile”
China is developing so rapidly that often safety is sacrificed for the sake of speed. Reports of accidents which result in untimely ends are a daily occurrence. Even on the roads drivers trust lucky charms over seat belts and the buses are so over-crowded that saying a few Hail Mary‘s is almost mandatory when boarding.
“It’s Fascinating”
While the novelty of living here does tend to wear thin at times there’s always something new to discover and explore. Although my Chinese is extremely limited I’ve learnt how to get by and life is quite comfortable. China is generally friendly towards foreigners as long as you respect their culture.
…and finally:
“It’s good but I’m trying to make it better”
The quote above is how a Chinese friend responded when I asked them the same question. Although not entirely helpful to outsiders I found it quite inspiring and a positive reflection on at least a portion of China’s youth who will inherit this vast land with all it’s intricate complexities.
For those who live here: how would you try to explain China to outsiders?
N.b. I’ve been feeling pretty under the weather for the past week while being super busy with work hence the relative air of quietness around here. Lots of good stuff in the pipeline!
My Love-Hate Relationship With China
I wrote this sitting on the beautiful island of Jeju in South Korea where, with the rare occurrence of time to spare, came time to reflect on my current life in China. It’s been a whirlwind year with work, life, travel and learning all struggling for my attention but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Whilst my experiences in China have been overwhelmingly positive I’ve found over the past year that I’ve developed somewhat of a love-hate relationship with the country which seems to be the case for many foreigners who’ve spent an extended period here. I’ve summarised some of these feelings below in my top 5 love/hate list:
Love
- People – I have almost always found the Chinese people to be kind, helpful and friendly. I’ve made some great friends here and while there may be cultural differences to overcome this makes things more interesting. Being a foreigner in China makes you an object of curiosity so making new friends is never hard and whenever I’ve had any problem people have always been happy to help.
- Food – on the whole Chinese food is delicious, nutritious and cheap. Whilst some of it might be a little unusual (dog, brains, snake, camel…) the variety is huge, ensuring that dinner time is never boring. Half the time I have no idea what I’m eating but usually it’s better that way. The Chinese have a saying when it comes to restaurants “the dirtier, the more delicious” and I have to agree in general!
- Culture – Chinese history provides the country with a rich culture which is as wide as it is varied owing to the vastness of the country and the many ethnic groups which inhabit it. This aspect continues to fascinate me and the longer I live here the more I have come to understand and realise how much more there is to learn.
- Places – I’m fairly sure someone could spend their entire life exploring China owing to its enormity and diversity. All extremes of climate, architecture, dress, flora and fauna can be found under the roof of China with something for everyone’s taste. I’ve seen a lot but the list of places I still want to visit is extensive. Yunnan and Tibet are high on my list for exploring next year.
- Chinglish – Whilst some people are aghast at the misuse of the English language abroad I never fail to find it entertaining. It brightens even the dullest of moments and I hope it becomes an official language in its own right one day (like American English is to British English).
Hate
- Government – of all the things wrong with China the communist party ranks highest above all others. Whilst there can be no doubt about their accomplishments they are riddled with bureaucratic, corrupt, insidious, ignorant, and generally lazy “officials” who leech off the rest of society for personal gain. Don’t get me started about censorship and the great firewall.
- Traffic – China’s roads are constantly clogged with drivers who rarely obey the rules of the road. Traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, lane priority all seem to be ignored with reckless abandonment. Overcrowded buses catch on fire and the number of near misses I’ve witnessed is staggering (luckily the traffic moves so slowly crashes are mostly minor).
- Manners – pushing, spitting, shouting, queue jumping and smoking in public spaces seems to be the rule rather than the exception here. Parents frequently let their children use the street as an open latrine. Whilst I can usually tolerate most of it things sometimes get a bit much and my inner voice has to be restrained from screaming out loud.
- Environment – pollution is a big problem and for many cities thick layers of smog can often be seen hanging over their towering skyscrapers. In the really bad areas children are more likely to be born with birth defects and many people experience respiratory problems as a consequence. The environmental damage caused by over-development here is staggering.
- Stereotypes – the Chinese have a tendency to assume that all foreigners “laowai” are alike which basically boils down confusing being independent with being “too open” / immoral (thanks to countless US TV shows and films). Unfortunately some expats only enforce this behaviour which annoys me even more.
So China it’s all out in the open now. I hope we can work things through and continue to be friends!
10 Things You Couldn’t Do 25 Years Ago
Photo by gothopotam
A couple of weeks ago I turned 25 which was a fairly unremarkable event but did get me thinking about how technology and the internet in particular has changed our lives over the past quarter of a century. Many things we take for granted today were unthinkable 25 years ago and have fundamentally changed the way we live our lives. I put together a quick list of 10 things I couldn’t do 25 years ago but now rely on daily…
- Communicate with people on the other side of the world in real time from virtually anywhere
- Write something and make it available to billions of people for free without any technical knowledge
- Search billions of pages of information and find almost anything in less than a second
- Watch world events unfold in real time independent of traditional media organisations
- Stream & download music, tv, and films over the internet from anywhere free of schedule limitations
- View products, compare prices, make purchases and buy tickets without leaving your chair
- Surf the web, make calls, send emails, listen to music, watch movies, record photos & videos, know where you are and a million more functions all using a single devise which can fit in your pocket
- Start a business without relying on the traditional costly overheads of office space and infrastructure
- Translate text between languages at a touch of a button with passable results
- Store massive amounts of information in a very small space (remember encyclopedias?!)
Illustration by Luiza P
Doing similar things 25 years ago (or even 5 in some cases) was slow, laborious and labor intensive. Today information moves at the speed of light and as the masses gained access to simple tools for dissemination we’re producing more than ever before in our history. With over 1 trillion pages and 1.6 billion users we are living in an age of hyper-connectivity where people are only as far apart as the devices with which they connect to the internet. If the industrial revolution brought us cars and bridges then the information revolution has brought the democratization of knowledge to the masses (arguably at the expense of privacy). How far we have come in such a short space of time…
What would be on your list?
I Want My Life Back
If you don’t know what this means then you probably don’t have the problem (via).
The biggest time suck in my digital life right now is Twitter which has a tenancy to get worse with the more people you follow (and the more you are followed). While my inbox is usually manageable my Google Reader subscriptions (100 of them) also have the ability to sap my attention with endless interesting articles to read and follow up. Where it will end I don’t know…
During quiet moments I daydream about being a cave man.