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From Magic City Morning Star R.P. BenDedek
Recently, a friend from long long ago contacted me through facebook. He had heard I was living in China, and he asked me why it is that I stay here. So many people have asked me that question, and they never really understand my answer.
However, the simplest and most direct answer as to why I love living in China, is that I finally found happiness. I found it here! This is now my 7th year of living in China, and though some people may think that living here is a 'cop out' for the foreigner; an escape from reality so to speak, the reality is that it is not always easy to live here. For instance: It is not possible for a foreigner to simply take a walk! You might think that a strange thing to say, but how would you like it if everywhere you went, people stared at you; pointed their fingers at you; talked about you; stuck their faces in front of yours and said: 'Hello!' Don't you love just sitting down in the sun, on a nice piece of turf, to just bask in solitude? In China, your apartment is about the only place you will find solitude, although even that is dubious when the couple living above you are screaming their heads off at each other till the early hours of the morning. Recently I wrote a group email to various Chinese friends with whom I had begun to lose touch, due to the pressures of my work and my generally depressed emotional state. Even during this last week I received an emotional kick in the stomach that has caused me to be somewhat depressed. And so it was that last night, by the time I arrived home from the Latin Dance Studio, I was actually feeling totally miserable.
I feel sorry for you are not so happy with your life here in China now. However, so many years of Chinese life gives both you and your friends so a lot. It is my pleasure to see you in my life cause I am such a simple guy grown up from the countryside, I have never dreamed to talk to a foreigner when I was young, but, I got so many friends from aboard! It is so fantastic! Now I am in my home doing some farmer work, I feel so tired that I want to sleep for two days and nights without drink or food! One agency in shanghai phoned me today for a work so I drived for ten kilometers to line on the internet to see what the hell it is, I will tell you what is that about later. Love you as a friend of me, a teacher of me, even a father of me! Jerry.
I looked at the email, and began to cry! Here I was feeling miserable, friendless and unloved, and here was this wonderful guy finally getting around to emailing me, telling me that he loves me. I have had many similar emails in the past and they are always a pleasure to receive. But this one arrived right when I needed to hear it. I love China, because here I found happiness! Thanks to Jerry (Yang Guanyou), and Zhang Mingxing, and Xie Qinchao and Zhan Yan, and Ma Dan, and Tang Hong, and Xiao Xiao and Chen Yufei, and Yan Yuhua and so, so many others.
If you happen to be a Chinese or Foreign Boss on the East Coast of China looking to hire someone who really can communicate with foreigners in normative English, then Jerry is your man. Two stories that both involve Jerry. R.P.BenDedek Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com
Stories from China at Magic City "The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls. © Copyright 2002-2008 by Magic City Morning Star |
