James Huang - Far far away from Scouseland

I turned 23 in February and celebrated four years as a Christian. I was happy that I had escaped any irreparable screw-ups. However, I spent the time in hospital with a severe eczema flare-up. I needed the time to recover and I intended to do a lot of reading. I ended up playing Civilisation 4 (a computer game) for days on end. The other patients were amused at my explanation of the game.

I got discharged in a satisfactory condition and flew back to Tianjin the next day. My flatmate organised a belated birthday party for me in Starbucks. That was after I lost my camera, so I have no photographs of the occasion - except for a photo of the venue which I took last year.

I get back into the routine of Peace Institute life. It is my last semester in the school. I mark down the 20 weeks in my diary - so I am already counting the days. I manage to keep my pre-intermediate class, which means I can recycle lesson plans. I arrange my twice-weekly Mandarin lessons. Thursday is my new day off and I start my weekly Starbucks routine. I re-assume my role of Coffee House organiser. Coffee House is a monthly school event where the school invites outsiders to come and participate in English discussions for free. There are other activities and a performance by the teachers. It takes a lot of my time and a lot of my stress.

The heating never comes on in my apartment throughout the whole winter. I find out that I don’t have to pay the heating fees, which is a small mercy. But the long term effect is that I’m now scared of the cold.

Economic forecast

Slightly warmer than my apartment. But getting colder. Northern Rock (an British bank) gets nationalised. Property prices are falling. So, I can look forward to buying a house in 2050 when global warming renders Britain’s property stock worthless.

World event that no-one should ignore

Freak weather conditions cripple China’s transportation system at exactly the wrong time of the year (link).

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January is the month for fresh beginnings in the Western Calendar. It was more like an intermission for me. I tell people that I spent 18 months in China, but it was really three 6-month stints with a month in the UK sandwiched in between. January was equally split between the end of term in China:

This was followed by two action packed weeks in the UK and Denmark. I was already thinking about my future London-life. Wai forewarns me about the hard life of the accountant. I also have dinner with Charles, an good friend from university. We provisionally agree to tentatively look for an apartment together in September. In the end, the tentative agreement becomes a legally binding contract. I come to realise that flat-hunting is not really possible from China and I let Charles do all the leg-work.

I enjoy my time back home but I am already counting the days left in China.

Economic forecast

Just a minor hiccup on the road to everlasting prosperity and happiness. Rising house prices for all. Actually, The Economist reports that forecasted growth for the US, Eurozone and UK are 1.8%, 1.8% and 1.9% respectively.

World event that James ignores

Obama beats someone called Clinton in a minor election in a small North American nation. I don’t expect that there will be any repercussions anytime soon.

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Despite moving back to the UK, Tianjin has not left my thoughts or my life. Yesterday, I got an invitation to join the Tianjin Blog Network. I was flattered to be invited but it didn’t seem appropriate. Anyway the solution was to just have a link to all my blog posts about China.

If you have come from the Tianjin Directory site, then I welcome you to a blog about an ex-expat going through reverse culture shock after leaving Tianjin in July 2008.

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In a fit of laziness, I’m going to combine all the things I wanted to write about but didn’t have time to do until I had left Tianjin.

丁字沽 (DingZiGu) Bus Stop Information

Tianjin’s bus system is comprehensively covers the city. The buses are cheap, clean and frequent. In the space of 3 months, most of the old buses have been replaced by new ones. Though the overcrowding problem remain during rush hour, but it’s not bad considering the city is home to 10 million Chinese (and a few expats).

Unfortunately, the timetables are not tourist friendly. You really have to know the layout of the city and remember the Chinese road names in order to figure out where you want to go. I’ve missed a few buses whilst trying to decipher the timetable.

Roller Blade Academy

Children can learn how the roller-blade in the park where the school is located. I had to cycle through swarms of roller-blading children to get to school and, fortunately, always managed to avoid hitting anyone.

Earthquake Donations

After the Sichuan Earthquake there was an outpouring of donations from all people of Tianjin. A list of donations in descending order was posted on red paper in all the apartment complexes. The donations ranged from 100 000 RMB to 10 RMB. In the West, there is honour in donating anonymously and this would be considered ostentatious. I asked my Chinese teacher about this and she said that the generous are respected. Are we too cynical in the West?

Tesco in Tianjin

Tesco have started their invasion of China. However, they were behind Walmart (the world’s biggest retailer) and Carrefour (the second biggest retailer), who have a bigger presence in the city. I shopped at Carrefour more because it was closer to where I lived.

Tianjin has many more interesting stories but they are for another (better) blogger to write about.

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OK, it’s been ages since my last blog post. I apologise to you. My time has been spent writing my school’s new website. I’ve come to realise that my life is not so interesting and there are many more informative blogs about expat life in China. The only hope I have to distinguish myself is to write with correct grammer and adequate spelling.

It’s been raining an abnormal amount in Tianjin. Last year, there was a storm every week but nowadays it rains every other day. The title of the blog post actually reflects my departure from Tianjin in less than a week’s time. I know I will miss this Tianjin and I’m anticipating “Reverse Culture Shock” (RCS) when I return to Britain. The proximity of my leaving has meant that I’ve refused to buy an umbrella. I’d rather buy an expensive Chinese-imported umbrella in England than the same umbrella in China.

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