Birthday

So my birthday was the other day and I'm now officially in my late 20s. Still haven't managed to find an office job yet or have a lease on a car or a mortgage or have any children. Man, I'm awesome.

For my birthday, I had a wild night of going to an Italian restaurant in town with my girlfriend followed by cake at home. Man, it was CRAZY, I even skiiped out on going to the gym! I'm a f***ing WILD MAN!! I didn't get to sleep until like...... 11:30, whoa was I ever feeling it the next day.

Some of my friends and I were talking just yesterday about going home after being away for so long and how horrible some situations can be. Really made me think about what it will be like next year when I'm back in Halifax next year after being away from the city for the last 4 years. Seeing people from high school or university who I was sort of friends with but not really is going to be awkward and not fun at all.

Random former classmate: Hey, Peter. Haven't seen you in so long, what's up?
Me: Well, I'm going to be at Dal this Fall doing economics.
Random .....: Cool. Where have you been lately?
Me: Well, I just got back from China, I was there for a couple of years and before that I was in Russia.
Rando.....: (long pause) Cool. So, me and so and so, and so and so are going to My Father's Moustache tonight, you should come, those guys would be hyped to see you.
Me: Yeah, cool (cool seems to be a recurring word in the conversation as it is a great word to use in uncomfortable situations)

And it's always weird/funny running in to old acquaintances/classmates who have become married with kids and packed on about 50 pounds give or take.

My friends and I also talked about how in smaller towns, every one expects you to be the same guy you were when you were 16. Because for the most part, a lof of people in small towns don't change much from when they were 16. People get pegged as having certain characteristics and can never really, or simply don't care to, change at all. When you live in the same place, with the same people, people have long memories and tend to always remember how someone was in their 'glory days' (which for many people, is high school).

I guess this is what I've enjoyed most about living away from home. I'm not pegged as being this or that because everyone knew me when I was 16. It's not that I'm a radically different person but a lot of things have changed, hell a lot has changed since my last year in university. And that's what makes it awkward going back home after so long, people seem to expect you to be that same guy you were when you left, because more than likely, they still are.

Hot weather is here, yuck!

I know, I know, is there is a worse topic to talk about than weather? Maybe hemorhoids, or genital rashes... but those are really just topics that make people uncomfortable, not so much bored.

Back to weather, the 'Hot as F***' season has officially began in my super-duper secret location in China (damn I've given away my location). The weather report today included the following:
1. Abundant sunshine.
2. Hot.

Our recent wave of hot weather has reminded me of the wonderful days of Summer when the streets are deserted between the hours of 11 and 4. I'm really putting some serious thought into becoming nocturnal because all I want to do when it's this hot is sleep; it's too bad that I can't convince everyone else around me to follow suit, they're all too selfish.

Midterm Time

A few weeks ago I had my midterm interviews with my students. Which are always interesting, some because they are so bizarre and some because they are actually interesting. Take for example two of my students who chose to speak with me about education.

The first student, who often comes to me to vent his displeasure with the Chinese education system, wanted to talk about the policy of Masters students having to publish 2 articles before they can receive their degree. The conversation went something like this:

Unnamed student: My professor says that 90% of these articles are trash. Is trash the right word here?
Me: Yeah, trash works there. So does anyone check the quality of these articles before they are published?
Unnamed student: No one checks the quality. There are so many journals in China and most of them are trash (at this point it's obvious that he really likes the word trash). Most journals take money to publish the articles.
Me: What do you mean by 'they take money to publish the articles'?
Unnamed student: The students give money to the journal to have the article in the journal. This school's journal it costs 800rmb, that's what my professor told me.
Me: Wow, this is a serious problem. Is it the same situation at all universities in China? Unnamed student: Yes, for 90 or 95% of universities and journals.

He continued to talk about the idea of who is cheating who here (the guy is really bright and always has stuff like this to say), and concluded with the idea that the students are cheating themselves, universities are cheating the students and China's future is being cheated. Pretty good summary, and all spoken in really good English. I've heard about lots of flaws in the education system and money passing hands, but this is the first time I heard of this situation and the first time someone has given me an exact number.

The second student who had studied in America for two years during her undergrad before returning to China to do her Masters. She wanted to discuss some of the differences between her study experiences in America and China. Halfway through the conversation she brought up cheating as an example of a huge difference between the two countries.

Unnamed student2: In America if a student is caught cheating the professor will be very strict and serious with punishment, but here in China there is really no punishment.
Me: (i know all this already, but want to continue the conversation). What do you mean no punishment? There must be some punishment.
Unnamed student2: No, there's no punishment. If you get caught, you can just give the teacher some money or find one of the leaders and they will help you out of trouble.
Me: (similar question as previous conversation) Is this situation the same all over China?
Unnamed student2: Yes, (joking) so if you need some extra money you should try.

Laughter follows, with cartoonish dollar signs flashing in my eyes.

So, an education system filled with cheating and corruption. Wow, I'm SOOOO glad that the world's economy is dependent on this nation. That's AWESOME with a capital AWESOME.

On a side note: I was wearing a yellow shirt on one of the days of the interviews and one of my students walked in and said "Peter, you are so high today!", quickly correcting himself and saying bright, but it was too late and the damage was done, I laughed my ass off for a good 20 seconds while he stood there utterly confused. If you don't know why I would think that is funny, you didn't know me in university.

MSN sucks, so new address

For some strange reason, my MSN space has decided to convert everything into Chinese character which means that I can't understand a damn thing.
Probably a blessing in disguise as I was in dire need of a good excuse to start something new. Hopefully, I'll have some funny or horrible class stories up soon.