the tile of this post is a shout out to Into the Wild. Alex (Chris) also refers to his "Great Alaskan Adventure". I'm beginning to understand why people adventuring don't usually have books written about them with the sentence "and then he headed back home as it was Sunday night and I have to work to support this lifestyle." Work and adventuring are not working out as I thought they would. Perhaps a given of life that I was too naive to notice, but it's been a big let down. When I think about what I'll be doing a year from today, I am fully clueless! But if I'm going to live abroad, perhaps I need to go for a 9-5 job or bar-tending or something less career-y. Studying in NZ was ideal, but I know an experience like that comes once in a lifetime. But I know there are jobs out there that would leave me feeling more energized rather than drained...
Last night I went to my 4th music concert in three weeks. It was pretty sweet music with one song with a chorus about California. Most of the words were in Chinese, which funnily enough, is starting to be a problem! I've gotten much much better at listening to the lyrics of music here, whereas before China I always just wanted to hear music for music. Perhaps, I cling to the English that I can hear? I dunno, but it's been an awesome ride re-discovering my iTunes library.
Jerry organized the trip last night buying everyone's ticket at a pre-sale: it's apparently a more well-known band. After school, which involved me showing the Holstee Life Manifesto video to my students and, perhaps, ranting about what their next four years could be like (I swear it was relevant to developmental psychology), Cynthia and I met Jerry and a few of his friends at the good ole #30 bus stop. But the bus didn't come right away and we were late so we called for an illegal car.
A van showed up, you know, the kind that if it gets in a crash everyone dies. Thin walls, no seat belts, bench seats covered in cloth. Needless to say it was a very bumpy ride leaving this kid wanting to own a van such as this. The van took us to Little Bar, the site of 3 of the 4 musical acts I've seen.
The first show I saw was at Hemp Bar, sounds cool, but was pretty boring that night. The band seemed like a garage band who still thought they were in a garage, not much audience interaction. Though, there wasn't much audience. They did cover Blink 182 which was very welcome.
The second show, the next day, was epic-ly awesome. It ranks up there in shows I've seen. A Mongolian-Folk/Rock band! The vocals were fantastic, two guys with some harmonies, throat singing, and yodeling? They had some ehru-like instruments, electric guitar, and an awesome drummer with some beads on his cymbals for a different sound. I can't find their music anywhere which is upsetting, but if they show up again, I'll see 'em again. They blew me away. I was lucky to have my camera on me as Cynthia and I had been to Dafu (the biggest Buddha statue) in Leshan earlier that day. (It's a HUGE Buddha, which pretty much sums up the experience).
The third show, last weekend, was interesting, which yes, means not as great as the 2nd one. The opening act was pretty bad, weak singing that didn't really seem to hook anyone in the audience. The band was better, but much of their music played on their humorous lyrics as judged from the audience's reaction. Dave, a teacher at a different Dipont school, and his finance joined me and Cynthia for the show.
Finally, last night, the most expensive show so far at 60RMB is ranked 2nd for my Chinese shows. The guitar rifts reminded me of SO much music and they got the crowd moving, moshing, and crowd-surfing (in this tiny Little Bar). Their energy was welcome after another long week at school, but with this new schedule, I seem to lack my usual Friday energy.
This band looked as established as the Mongolians (who wore traditional garb) if not more. The bassist had a tattooed neck, top hat, and long curly hair. He wore a crazy jacket and lived up to the "bassists are weird" sterotype. But such a good weird. The lead singer wore Aviators, had longish hair, low cut black shirt, and a red jacket. He reminded me much of every 80s movie ever. Finally the drummer who had awesome hair/style. A very thick mohawk with shaved sides of his hair, Raybands, and a scarf around the neck: he had the kind of image that would sell a CD. Their style was established as was their playing: musically they were wonderful. Their lyrics, or at least, their English lyrics were a bit interesting. Overall, a fun show with lots of energy.
So, I'm not doing too badly. I'm getting much better at caring for my house and cooking for myself. But now I need to work at my social life. Which is...the first time I've ever had this thought? This is my first time not at school where you are constantly surrounded by peers and friends. In real life, you talk to a stranger at a bar and form that first acquaintance, and you may never see then again, whereas in college or high school, you're bound to run into them. Now add the fact that not many people here speak English, and a social life becomes slightly frustrating, especially, when during the weekend, I'm exhausted from the week!
However, one of my goals for this experience has been to spend more time with myself and, I have to say, this time is paying off. Do I miss living with others? You betcha, but that whole school thing I've been doing since I was a wee thing never really left me much time to myself. Nor does my typical extroverted self crave this time. And as balance became important to me in college, I still feel I need more of this time, even if much of it coming by default rather than choice.
All in all, what I've learned from this experience I hope to use to help me pick my next one. As long as I remember that I will care about my job no matter how stressed it makes me, that I am capable of spending time with myself, but do prefer social living conditions, and that I have to sometimes schedule in time to relax and stick to that plan, then I think things will get even better!
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