Monday, February 10, 2014

Qi

Top to bottom cleaning today, bleach, disinfectants, mop and glow, trying the rid the place of my scent, my flow of energy--my Qi.The negative energy of a man on a visa wait, made weighty by the importance of my role as financier of an investment. Former spouse stays behind to manage the house, a house I never wanted in a country I never plan to live in again. Then, well, someone has to take care of my cats. What a long, strange trip it's been.

Saturday, February 08, 2014

Exits

In the Arabian Gulf, life is tolerated and endured as western ex-pats yet some discover that life under theocratic dynasties is not so bad. Just remember that what you say must be said with great discernment and discretion.I imagine to same holds true for China.


When are you escaping this God forsaken place? You hear this question a lot in Saudi Arabia but less so in the Emirates. If people enjoy sticking around during 10 day breaks and don't flee to Bangkok first chance they get, then it's probably a cool place to live.

Friday, February 07, 2014

Accordingly

I cannot say that my life has or has not gone according to plan. That would draw a conclusion that I make them, plans, and I don't. I pencil things in, which is not the same. By doing this, I do not have to breathe into my  life taking action. I don't have to make shit happen. I can't say that when one door closes, another is unlocked. I don't see the ebb and flow of opportunity as walking in and out of doors. I don't live in a world with doors. Departure gates, yes. Doors, no.
 

In the making of decisions and choosing, I wonder, are you and I the same? For you is life an endless series of problems to be solved? If so, on the other hand, maybe we are not alike. Problems arise and they more often than not require making choices and tough decisions. I am a decide-a-phobe. Instead of making decisions and choosing, I remain a spectator. Possibilities will eliminate themseves. Why give them any thought? Nothing for me is contingent.

See, something will eventually happen.It always does. But when it does, at least I can't say it is the worst thing I could have imagined happening! Understand now? I hadn't planned on anything happening. 


Aloft

It is once again time for my boot heels to be wandering.  I sit on the sofa in a house where I will soon leave behind an irate ex-wife and 7 cats.  My level of commitment to them all is for me, once again, the grand prize question.

I am a professional ex-pat English teacher who has been between jobs, again.  These past four months have not been the first time I have shifted my life from being over there with many rooms of Ikea furniture, carpets on the floor and art on the walls, moving to here, not so much my home anymore as my country of origin, the U.S.

This routine is the way things have been for years, and it looks as though the routine will go on and on.I don't mind leaving a house full of furniture behind. I do hate the part where I turn friends into people I was used to be close to, people I used to hang out with, got drunk with or sometimes tried to stay sober with.
What can I tell you?
I'm packing. I’ll soon be aloft again. Yes, I won't argue that IT is all about the journey, not the destination. Travel well we are told as it is better than the arrival.Long hauls are always out of body experiences. A long haul reduces my periphery to seismic shifts in time zones, day times and night times, surrounds me with unfamiliar faces and unknowable languages.
All this departing and arriving, and the layovers are made less nerve-racking when I can slip into a VIP lounge . My attitude of gratitude for today is maintained by my Delta Gold Club membership in combination with my 15 hour long haul Delta flight from Seattle to Shanghai. I am entitled to complimentary beverages, all the baby carrots and pretzels I can shovel into my mouth. 

I pray the traveler's prayer. I hope that the lines at security screenings are short and quick and that my hotel in China remembers to send a driver. The hotel driver has for years now been the closest thing I've had to being greeted by a friend or family member's smile. I don't mind it at all these days. Long ago? Yes. Later on? Less so. Now? Shameless resignation.