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Welcome To The Peoples
Republic of China
Well, I am
here!
I have been all over the rest of the world in my
Lighting Travels (I'm a Lighting Designer/Director), but
never to the Dark Continent (Africa), down under
(Australia), the Pacific Rim (anywhere east of Russia and
west of California). I always wanted to come here. I have
always been completely fascinated with east asian cultures
and history.
I love Chinese, Japanese and Indian cuisine, especially
Sushi! I think that Asian women are some of the sexiest,
most feminine women in the world and the recorded history of
these nations is some of the oldest on our little planet.
(factoid: Did you know that the Great Wall of China is the
only man-made object that can be seen from space?)
I have always wanted to come here ...
And now ... I LIVE HERE!
In many of my philosophical essays (GoJeffy.com), I
talk about how your life "speaks" to you ... about how it
may seem bad or frustrating one moment and uber-satisfying
the next. But that it all works out in the end and that
everything happens for a reason. I try to convey a lesson
that I am often-times still learning myself ...
The sooner you learn to recognize this voice your life
has ... and more importantly, to listen to it ... the
smoother your life will become.
I won't bore you with the lessons dropped upon me
before I was brought here. But suffice it to say that I went
through 3 years of bewildering hell!
I lost everything I owned and had built, many
"friends" and at 43 years old, am now starting all over
again. Its OK though ... like I said, it was supposed
to happen.
"All the adversity I've had in
my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened
me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in
the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."
-Walter
Elias Disney
I know just what he
means!
I'm sure there were many times I wrung my hands and
contemplated becoming a prolific serial killer. Stress,
confusion, great loss and more importantly, losing your
faith in man-kind, mixed in with emotional suffering can
bring those thoughts into your head ...
Ahhh, but what would my Mom think ... Ya know?
(Hysterical Laughter)
Well, just when I was at the bottom of my rope, stuck
in L.A. (Lower Alabama!) and actually seeking work in
Lighting out on the net to get me the hell outta there ...
my life brought me to an ad that brought me here. Like I
said ... it was supposed to happen! Had I not had
all those horrible twists and turns in my life, I would
still be stateside and probably still miserable. It was a
course I've always been on. I just keep forgetting that.
Its no cakewalk here, but it has been a great
experience. Being an adventurer, I love the experience so
far. I have never worked in the "corporate"-type environment
before, so that's pretty new to me. I'm adapting though.
Coming here is like a trip back into the 40's!
Remember, this country was all but cut off from the world
until 1997. The people have an innocence about them. Its
very refreshing. In the bigger cities, they are quickly
catching up with the rest of the rotten world, but in the
smaller villages, towns and hamlets ... its really a
different world.
A world where I am a GIANT!
(More hysterical laughter)
I am at least 1 foot taller and 150 pounds heavier than
over 98% of the population here! It is really wild. I get
out of a car or exit a building and, almost on cue, someone
can be heard to exclaim either "Oh" or "Wow!".
I am constantly stared at (remember, some of these
people have never even seen a REAL westerner before and
those that don't have a television may have never seen one
before AT ALL!), most of the men do one of three things:
they stay away and whisper/point or they give me a wide
berth or they try and walk up and practice their English and
shake my hand.
The girls mostly just stare all wide-eyed or maybe give
me a shy smile. Some stand away in groups and giggle. Some
won't look up from the ground. In the bigger cities (Guongzhou,
Jaing Men, Shenzen, etc.) I don't really get too much
reaction. Mostly stares and neck-turns. I can make the girls
giggle though if I wink at them. They turn red and cover
their mouths when they laugh. They are just adorable.
If you like Asian food, prepare to be extremely jealous!
Especially if you like Sushi and fresh seafood, fruit or
mushrooms. All of these are extremely fresh and tasty here
and all of them are extremely CHEAP!
What would easily cost me 45-60 bux in Sushi back home
never tops 15 bux here! Fruit is grown everywhere, so when
you get it, it most likely came from within a 5 mile radius
of where you are eating it! Same with the mushrooms! The
other day in a restaurant, I picked four 9-inch Striped
Prawns (GIANT Shrimp) and one 13-inch Mantis Prawn (it was
better than any Lobster I've EVER eaten!) out of a cold
saltwater tank and then watched the guy prep and cook them!
It doesn't GET any fresher than that!
By weight back home, these Prawn would've been over 20
bux. ... and I mean in a market, frozen and I'd have to cook
em myself. I had all of those, a plate of thin noodles with
veggies and 'shrooms, a bowl of chicken broth and some
cucumbers soaked in a nutty sesame oil, with fresh-ground
hot green tea and a bottled water. My interpreter/secretary
had fish cakes (like Salmon cakes, but built with a
different fish), a plate of fried rice and all the other
trimmings ... the whole thing was about 18 bux! TIP
included!
EAT YER HEARTS OUT!
WE DID!
HEE!
Wages are low here, so things are pretty cheap. I'm
blessed that I got to come here and experience this before
that all catches up with the rest of the world!
See? There are great rewards mixed in with the
suffering!
The Chinese have understood this for centuries ... they
call it "Yin" and "Yang". I'm sure you've heard this before.
It means that all things have a balance, even your life
experiences and that together, they balance out and make you
who you are. One helps you through the other.
Her and I were in Jaing Men to take me to the
hospital. I had hurt my foot falling off a ladder. A thin
aluminum ladder built to hold small Chinese guys, not my 6
foot, 275 pound frame, storming up it in a huff! It crumpled
under my weight like a twig!
HEE!
The hospital blew me away too! We walked in, signed in,
saw a Doctor, got my X-rays and it was then lunchtime. We
went and ate, returned when they said the Doctor would be
back, he looked at my x-rays, gave me some meds and an ace
bandage, then we went and paid and left!
Total time at the hospital?
2 hours TOPS!
The bill?
LESS THAN 50 BUX!
No emergency room/triage 2-6 hour waiting game/dog and
pony show. No Doctors "too busy" to see you if you don't
have insurance. No 2000 dollars just to walk in the door and
then more expenses for any treatments!
China is very cool. It can be frustrating with the
language barrier and learning to understand how things work
here ...
But that's what makes it an adventure, doesn't it?
"In the end, it is not the amount of years in a man's life,
but the amount of life in a man's years,
that makes his life worth celebrating."
-Abraham Lincoln
I am doing my best to make my life worth celebrating. I
pay a high price for this sometimes; I'm often lonely and
have definitely had my share of sorrow and suffering ...
But when I look back ... I know I'm doin' it right ...
I just need to learn to listen ...
Listen to my life.
I'll get it right one day ...
I hope that you learn to hear it too. Trust me ... Its
worth every word.
-Jeffy
(That Rascal)
Thursday, April 13th, 2006
7:23 A.M Gong He Town, He Shan City
Guang Dong Province, Peoples Republic of China
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