Somewhere Between "C'est la vie" and "La vita è bella": 30 Days of Blogging, Day 7

So today I'm leaving Chicago for a trip out west including 6 days in Denver, 5 days Vegas, and 4 days in LA. From there, it's on across the Pacific to Hong Kong, and ultimately Shenzhen. At this point, there's a good deal of ambiguity in how long I'll be gone, I've more or less told my family that I'll be going to China and staying until I either run of out money (I currently have enough funds to pretty easily get me to like Feb '12) or find a proper job, in which case I'd be there for quite awhile, as the proper job would potentially lead to a career. Certainly an odd feeling leaving the city I've lived in on-and-off for 23 years and not having any idea when I'll return. Consequently, I've decided to devote this post to the things I'll miss most about life in Chicago, or even life in the United States (it should be noted that I'm excluding obvious things like family/friends. I'll miss you all, clearly. That's now established).

Baseball

Few things are nearly as entertaining as baseball's playoffs. I've enjoyed them immensely over the past few weeks, and am very pleased that I'll be in the States until the World Series is nearly over. That said, I'll really miss my Chicago Cubs (presumably) losing next season, given that they've not won a title since 1908. I suppose MLB.com should provide some good gamecasts, and it'll be easy enough to follow them, but it won't be the same (it certainly wasn't when I was trying to follow baseball during the 2010 season abroad).

Indian Bistro

I'm very well-aware that the quality of Indian food in Chungking Mansions Hong Kong is better than anything I'll find here in the US, but I'll definitely miss going to the local Indian place and chatting with the owners about cricket, int'l politics, or whatever else we felt like talking about. Also didn't mind always having cricket on one TV, and Bollywood on the other. Really going to miss this place.

Metra Train Ride to Chicago

So I live like 30-35 minutes outside of Chicago by car, but I really hate driving, and really enjoy public transportation, so I take the Metra commuter train to Chicago, which takes about an hour. I've made this trip like 6-7 times since I've been home in August, and it's just remarkably good thinking time just sitting on the train watching the suburbs fly by as you're humming along towards the city.

Sears (Willis) Tower

My wonderful friend Rachael (who is, by the way, a professional tour guide now) told me the other day that the Sears Tower was designed to mimic a package of cigarettes which, when tipped over, would lead to a handful of cigarettes sticking out of the top at various heights. Suppose I could see it. Anyway, Sears Tower is not only the tallest building in Chicago (tallest in the world until 1998 when the Petronas Towers in KL took over), but my favorite on the fantastic Chicago skyline.

Having a Cheeky Fews (10) Bevvies at Lamps

Local bar. About enough said.

Anyway. These (among many, many others) are the little things that I'll be missing about life here in the US of A. That said, it's now time for arguably the greatest adventure of my young life. I've taken a line from the masterful JVN, and will have this post automatically post on this blog as my flight is (scheduled to be) taking off. See you on the other side.

Time to go west to return to the East.

A Pretty Interesting Realization: 30 Days of Blogging, Day 5

Interesting situation I found myself in today: I was driving to meet up with a friend at an Indian restaurant nearby my house, when it sort of occurred to me--I'm leaving for China on Wednesday (and yes, I realize that I won't actually be getting to China until 28 October, as I'm taking a bit of a west coast trip prior, but I'm leaving home Wednesday). Furthermore, I'm going to Shenzhen without a job, and with about enough money to last like 2-3 months. It was sort of a shocking realization, along the lines of "what the heck did I get myself in to?" thing.

This is not to say I was having second thoughts about going. I'm quite sure that China is where I want to be for the long-term, not to mention where there will be economic opportunities in greater abundance during my lifetime. It simply dawned on me that this would probably be a bit more complicated of a move than I'd previously thought. However, very shortly after realizing this, I got a pretty surprising phone call, from a +86 number. For those who aren't familiar, +86 is the country code for China. That is, at noon on a Monday in Chicago, Illinois, I was getting a call from someone in China, where it was 1:00am on Tuesday morning. Needless to say I was intrigued, and answered the phone so enthusiastically that I'd imagine the guy on the other line was more startled than a rural Chinese person seeing a 6'1" white guy. Or something like that.

Anyway. So this phone call turned out to be in regard to a position I applied for in Shenzhen about 2 weeks ago. The position came to my attention through a messageboard for the teaching program I was doing, and it was a job for a teaching position that involved "coaching" students who were going to be going to university in the United States. The Chinese guy on the other line and I spoke for a fair bit of time, and I've sent off a few letters of recommendation, writing samples, etc. If nothing else, a promising (and conveniently timed!) development in my job search.

After having had this phone conversation, I was completely reassured that it would indeed be quite manageable to find a decent job in Shenzhen upon arrival. Which is just a bit more evidence that following one's dreams, or at the least, doing something that you really want to do even though many people are telling you otherwise, is probably easier than the vast majority of people would have you believe. So for those of you who want to do something outrageous or seemingly impossible, my suggestion is to do it now! Otherwise, you may never be able to do so. And really, what's the worst that could happen?

Further job development--I've now got another interview set up with a German company upon arrival in Shenzhen. It was pretty encouraging when they instructed me to meet at the Shangri-La near Luo Hu, which is just one of the nicest properties in Shenzhen to my knowledge. It would be a real job (i.e. something that could be a career), so that'll be fun.

Apart from that, just trying to pack as lightly as possible as I get ready to head off to the great American West on a journey to return to the Far East. And this 30 posts in 30 days thing is already getting difficult, it's tough to be insightful in a universal way every day, but we'll see how it goes!

More news to come as I feel like posting it.