The Curious Case of Mr. Hope

The year is early 2000, and a young Matt McGrath is changing clothes in the Fowler Middle School locker room after an arduous gym class.  He pedantically takes stock of the contents of his locker: Vans skate shoes?  Check.  Zip-off pants/shorts?  Check.  Abercrombie shirt?  Check.  Recently-aquired, super-cool ying-yang necklace sure to attract the attention of that one girl in social studies that talked to me for a few seconds about X-Files last week?  

...no check.  Where is it.  No seriously, where is it??

A distraught Matt hopelessly searches the track for his super-cool necklace, to no avail.  It is lost forever to the evils of mandatory physical education.

***

The previous anecdote is, essentially, what ran through my mind last week as our Chinese Culture professor, Mr. Hope, explained the intricacies of the "ying and yang" belief held by much of the Chinese population.  Perhaps not exactly related to class material, but it was a compelling foray into my memories, nonetheless.

The idea of Ying and Yang, as I have found this past week, plays a much larger role in my life than I would have previously imagined (although like most quasi-religious philosophies, this depends largely on personal interpretation).  

Let us examine:

The past week has been a National Holiday in China, meaning that most of the country travels around, relaxes, and in general tries to ignore the fact that their government is going a little looney.  Following suit, our group flew two hours south to Hainan, the so-called "Hawaii of China", for a 3-day excursion of epic proportions.  Our travel guide promised days packed bursting with bus tours, walking tours of the local topography, and guided tours of coffee-factories.  Our group responded, somewhat understandably, with a delicately raised middle finger, instead choosing to spend our time lounging on the beach and frolicking the waves.

And oh, what fun it was.  But, as Mr. Song says, you cannot have Ying without Yang.  In this case, the Yang took the form of sunburns, sickness, and the extreme lack of protein in our diet (which was later remedied by a mutinous expedition to McDonalds; nothing like chicken nuggets and french fries to remind one of home).  

Regardless, the trip did give me my first experience of a tropical typhoon, which I think makes up for the drawbacks by itself. 

My glorious return from Hainan was dampered somewhat by the worrisome state of the U.S. economy.  I feel that the next few months are going to be very, very interesting...perhaps even generation-defining.  I'm not sure how I feel about being associated with a possible dust-bowl depression of our era.  

Oh wait, yes I do.  Dear God, please let the bailout work.

Regardless, its comforting to know that I was able to eat all my meals today for under $1.75USD.  

Perhaps the life of an ex-patriot wouldn't be so bad.  

Happy October,

-McG

P.S. -- Thank you for all your Happy Birthday emails and wall posts, they were much appreciated.  My actual birthday was as tame as they come, but filled with friends and food.  One couldn't ask for more.