*MIGRATED FROM ANDY VS CHINA ARCHIVES*
Just last Thursday one of our Chinese teachers proclaimed she had found an abandoned kitten. The mother had run off with the other six kittens, so it was the runt of the litter. The teacher offered it to our new foreign teacher who gladly accepted. She wouldn't give it a name just in case she got too attached, but I remembed my favourite cat name and being in China added some extra humour to it. Chairman Meow.
Obviously the cat had a few emotional problems. It was only a month old and therefore was completely reliant on it's mother for nourishment. So being thrust into a new household wasn't a picnic for it. It would refuse to eat or drink anything.
So this weekend when that teacher said she was going away to Wuhan for a few days, she asked me to look out for that kitten over that time. If I could try and get it to eat something. I had little choice in the matter, so I agreed. I tried some of my own methods to get it to put something in its system. But, I'm sure it got more on its face than in its mouth.
I had it roaming around my apartment during the day. It was unfortuantely an abject coward. Frightened of anything that moved. I tried to comfort it as well as I could. I went out this evening with some friends for some drinks. When I returned I saw the cat lying on the couch supposedly in deep slumber. I poked it and there was no response, picking it up confirmed it. Stiff as a brick would be an understatement.
So after that I unceremoniously took it out the back and left it to what ever happens next in that situation. It wasn't long for this world.
Sorry Meow. Guess I'll have to break it to the owner as well, which will be...un-fun. On the brightside I also had to look after a fish and it hasn't died yet. Yes, go me!
All right then, catch you later then.
Andy Scott
Pet Burials inc.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Thursday, October 27, 2005
AVC: Choices.
*MIGRATED FROM ANDY VS CHINA ARCHIVES*
Tis' the end of October now. Which to me means three more months of contract here in Guanghua. On that topic, this year went so bloody fast.
Just like last year I'm not prepared for the ending. So many possibilites playing chicken with each other. One of them has to win eventually. I thought the best way to straighten this out might be through unorganised prose of some sort. So, it's probably not of interest to anyone else.
One thing I know is that I won't be returning home this Summer (down under), Winter (up here). Last year was great, but too expensive and I did everything that I wanted to do. Since nothing really materialised this year that would move me out of teaching it would be safe to assume I'll continue doing that next year. Though just in the last few weeks I've started to feel a little tedious doing this. I don't think I'm the kind of person that can keep on doing the exact same thing for too long. Two years in a very small town, with few people to talk to and even less things to do has taken its toll. Another year here in Guanghua might be the mental equivalent of being trapped in an iron maiden (the torture device, not the band.)
I could always go to another town in China and start afresh. But, that would mean the risk of getting stuck with a bad school. Apart from the tedium and repetitiveness, this town is really comfortable and convenient for anything. If I could somehow get a different job in China I'd probably jump on it. Yet, there isn't much I can do here without being fluent in Chinese, which I'm not. So, I could go to university for six months and study Chinese, become fluentish and do some translation work. Whoopee...!
Something which sounded a good idea would be to sign a six month contract here and save as much as I can during that time. That would give me the cash to go to another country. Only problem is that I'm worst saver of money ever. I went to Wuhan last weekend to do some extra classes and made 500 yuan in two days. That's a good amount and I could make much more, except over the weekend I spent about 1000 yuan. So just to break even I'd have to do twice as many classes. Damn those temptations.
Wow. That didn't work... I know what's going to happen though. I'll still be here next year, and around this time in 2006 I'll be having the same thoughts again. Anywho, better get off to bed. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them, no matter how unfeasible.
Catch you later,
Andy Scott
Tis' the end of October now. Which to me means three more months of contract here in Guanghua. On that topic, this year went so bloody fast.
Just like last year I'm not prepared for the ending. So many possibilites playing chicken with each other. One of them has to win eventually. I thought the best way to straighten this out might be through unorganised prose of some sort. So, it's probably not of interest to anyone else.
One thing I know is that I won't be returning home this Summer (down under), Winter (up here). Last year was great, but too expensive and I did everything that I wanted to do. Since nothing really materialised this year that would move me out of teaching it would be safe to assume I'll continue doing that next year. Though just in the last few weeks I've started to feel a little tedious doing this. I don't think I'm the kind of person that can keep on doing the exact same thing for too long. Two years in a very small town, with few people to talk to and even less things to do has taken its toll. Another year here in Guanghua might be the mental equivalent of being trapped in an iron maiden (the torture device, not the band.)
I could always go to another town in China and start afresh. But, that would mean the risk of getting stuck with a bad school. Apart from the tedium and repetitiveness, this town is really comfortable and convenient for anything. If I could somehow get a different job in China I'd probably jump on it. Yet, there isn't much I can do here without being fluent in Chinese, which I'm not. So, I could go to university for six months and study Chinese, become fluentish and do some translation work. Whoopee...!
Something which sounded a good idea would be to sign a six month contract here and save as much as I can during that time. That would give me the cash to go to another country. Only problem is that I'm worst saver of money ever. I went to Wuhan last weekend to do some extra classes and made 500 yuan in two days. That's a good amount and I could make much more, except over the weekend I spent about 1000 yuan. So just to break even I'd have to do twice as many classes. Damn those temptations.
Wow. That didn't work... I know what's going to happen though. I'll still be here next year, and around this time in 2006 I'll be having the same thoughts again. Anywho, better get off to bed. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them, no matter how unfeasible.
Catch you later,
Andy Scott
Sunday, October 09, 2005
AVC: National Day Holiday.
*MIGRATED FROM ANDY VS CHINA ARCHIVES*
One of the perks of working in education is the amount of holidays you are entitled too. National 'Day' which actually lasts for a week is now over. Didn't get up to all that much really. Made three trips out of town to Sha Shi, Qianjiang and Wuhan. Got to the Buddhist temple in Sha Shi again. Attempted to buy some traditional clothing, but was approached by some monks who informed me that I had to actually be a buddhist to wear the clothes. Nice of them to assume that just because I don't have a shaved head I'm not interested in taking part in their beliefs. Actually thinking about that, both buddhist monks and neo-nazis have shaved heads and the swastika is one of the main symbols of their beliefs as well. After that though there aren't any other similarities.
Back to Wuhan on Friday afternoon for a another attempt at the Blue Sky bar. I hadn't been back there since the last incident almost three months ago. Yet I must have made an impression last time because everyone who came up to me remarked 'Hey, you were the guy that fell asleep outside' or 'You stole one of my drinks last time.' All water under the bridge now of course. I even met the guy who called the police about me. It was pretty quiet this time, but we still managed to get nicely drunk. Got to the supermarket the next day, excited to find they had a lot of new stuff, including BBQ sauce!
That is basically it... So, this is where I will part.
Andy Scott
One of the perks of working in education is the amount of holidays you are entitled too. National 'Day' which actually lasts for a week is now over. Didn't get up to all that much really. Made three trips out of town to Sha Shi, Qianjiang and Wuhan. Got to the Buddhist temple in Sha Shi again. Attempted to buy some traditional clothing, but was approached by some monks who informed me that I had to actually be a buddhist to wear the clothes. Nice of them to assume that just because I don't have a shaved head I'm not interested in taking part in their beliefs. Actually thinking about that, both buddhist monks and neo-nazis have shaved heads and the swastika is one of the main symbols of their beliefs as well. After that though there aren't any other similarities.
Back to Wuhan on Friday afternoon for a another attempt at the Blue Sky bar. I hadn't been back there since the last incident almost three months ago. Yet I must have made an impression last time because everyone who came up to me remarked 'Hey, you were the guy that fell asleep outside' or 'You stole one of my drinks last time.' All water under the bridge now of course. I even met the guy who called the police about me. It was pretty quiet this time, but we still managed to get nicely drunk. Got to the supermarket the next day, excited to find they had a lot of new stuff, including BBQ sauce!
That is basically it... So, this is where I will part.
Andy Scott
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