Jiangxi: a place that has killed my ability to creatively title things

I'd really like to be able to start off this transmission by saying that now that we're all teaching, and things have picked up a bit, we're all going to be okay. That would be a lie. Everything is going just the way that it has in the past, and the crushing boredom and sleeplessness are all there, along with the lingering fear that I was completely right about what my experience was going to be here. I'm going to try to talk about it less here, as it's probably super boring and off putting to read if you're not stuck in the situation, and Aristotle tells me that audience concerns are important in rhetoric.

We found a bar, but not the good kind like you're hoping to find in a place that you hate. The drinks are expensive, especially by Chinese standards, and the atmosphere is not something that really suits anyone. I have never been in a louder room in my life, and I'm counting First Avenue in my list of rooms. There are more lasers in the place than are needed by anyone that owns no discernible cats. The music is also the worst, consisting of terrible re-recordings of old American hits such as Country Roads, but with loud, constant drum tracks and awful synthesizers thrown in, because why not? The one good thing was the owner took notice and bought us all drinks, although we probably disappointed him when we couldn't speak Chinese. Just as we were about to leave, a weird stage show took place, and Miles and I watched a larger woman in short shorts sing songs punctuated by chugging beers that audience members gave to her. Seriously weird stuff.

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and in keeping with the general narrative of my experience here, it was a disappointment. I was awoken by constant firecrackers, which continued through the day. As the sun went down, Vang, Miles and I headed into town to find where things were going on for the festival. We walked down streets, we walked through parks, and eventually made our way to the river. We found nothing, and wound up taking an over-full bus back home. One of Kao's students makes fireworks, and we tried to set one off, but it did nothing, and stayed with the narrative. I went to bed, and fell asleep three hours later.

I taught for the first time today, subbing in for an enthusiastic fellow named Chris. Class went well, but in talking to Chris, I realized that he thinks I'm a complete moron. He lectured me for a good ten minutes on Deng and the Special Economic Zones, despite my eerie ability to finish his sentences when he stumbled and anticipate his questions. I suppose this is how it feels to be a non-native speaker in America, too. I experienced racism the other day, which was neat in a kind of twisted way. I was on the bus, and I had an open seat to my left and another one to my right. Nobody sat down, even when the bus was packed. I just smiled and continued to listen to the new Wilco album, which is really good by the way.

I'm gonna go out and take photos sometime soon, so look for those soon. I still don't have my passport,and it's freakin' me out. I hope it comes soon. Gonna teach more about the United Kingdom tomorrow, a place I know very little about. Don't tell the kids!

-Cooper