Radical Eclecticity

Great Wall

Originally uploaded by zsoolt

The first item on my list is to visit China. This is not as simple a task as it sounds, though. I don’t just want to go, see the word-famous tourist sites, and come home.

There are several reasons for this, among them being that I despise traveling in tourist circles. I’ve lived in Touristville, USA for years upon years. Not only does heavy tourist traffic create… well… traffic, it also tends to cheapen, dilute, and otherwise ruin the experiences that make the area worth visiting in the first place. With such a long and rich history, the touristized bits of China would be too far a cry from the depth of the experience one could have.

The single biggest factor, however, is linguistic interest. Through the course of learning the language, I have become fascinated by China, its language, its culture, and it’s history. Unfortunately, I know I have gained as much as I can gain linguistically without going through a period of total immersion.

I would most like to take a job teaching English in China, so that I can speak the native tongue with its residents. If I am forced to use Chinese to actually communicate and live, my ability with the language will drastically increase (hopefully). I have found a few summer positions in Beijing advertised.

My only hope is that their notion of summer lines up with the time I actually have off. I would be willing to end my school year a week or two early, but I simply would not be willing to miss any of the first few days of school. They are too crucial. If a summer position doesn’t work out, I’d have to take a year off to do it. That gets more complicated, too, since I’d have to time it properly with the school where I teach, and with my mater’s program.

Either way, it will be quite the experience. No doubt there will be a metric ton of pictures (which is difficult to acheive with a digital camera).