Starting from the Middle

It is only fitting that this blog should begin this way-in a illogical (at least to the Western mind) fragmented fashion. Actually, most of my favorite movies start in the middle and follow the story line until the end. It is only in the prequel, that shows up in theaters 2 years later, that we actually find out what happened in the beginning. Maybe the beginning matters less than the journey in the middle and result at the end.

Instead of logging onto Blogger and creating a blog in 5 seconds as advertised, unanticipated challenges have already presented themselves. The entire site is in Chinese. Typically, when someone doesn't understand something or is totally lost, they might say something like "this might as well have been in Chinese." However, having studied Chinese for over 5 years now (when I can clearly remember 5 years back I feel like old, or at least older. Maybe it is at the point when I cannot remember 5 minutes ago that I am in fact "old"), I have to tailor that statement to read something like "this might as well have been in Java or Arabic." I do read some Chinese, but things would have been a lot easier had it been in English.

These challenges are fitting because it is in a sense a microcosm of challenges and confusion faced everyday by foreigners running around China. Take traffic for example. One would be hard-pressed to find a more dynamic scene than an intersection in China. There are cars coming from every direction, taxis leveraging for position, guys are on bicycles smoking and talking on a cell phone while transporting mounds of "stuff" (which is actually quite impressive), people are eating, talking, squatting, spitting; it would appear to be a very chaotic. However, mysteriously there are fewer wrecks, accidents and miscommunications that one might think. I guess if everyone assumes everyone else is not going to follow traffic rules, there is an element of anticipation built into everyone's head. Where foreigners see chaos, the Chinese see normality and logic.

I am going to save elaborating about how I got to China. Like my favorite movies, this blog will pick up in the middle of my time in China. Maybe I'll be able to shed some light on the whys and hows of my ending up in China along the way. My intention is to act as somewhat of a bridge for people interested in knowing more about this dynamic place through the lens of my day-to-day life. Lessons about how to make sense of China can be found everywhere: buses, airports, on the street, in tea houses, in cabs, in line, ect. I welcome you on this journey as I continue on the trajectory of trying to sort out the Chinese intersection. I am off to a Chinese wedding, which should afford me some interesting things to share later.