Travels Around The Universe: Guangzhou-Chapter Two: First Six Months

Work, work work...

Work is good and has been especially busy. It seems the U.S. consulates and embassies’ busiest visa season occurs during the summer because it’s a time when folks from other countries want to travel to the U.S. (i.e., vacation, visit relatives, school). Working in four sections every day, where each section is equally intense, I also feel pretty mentally and emotionally exhausted each day.

I start my work day at 8am every day. Since I live 40+ minutes from work, I take a shuttle that picks me up at 7:15am and drives me to work. Because of that, it’s really hard to get to the gym before work. Instead, I stumble out of bed at 6:30am and get ready for work. We start work at 8pm and end at 5pm. We have no homework, which is a big plus considering I've been taking homework home for the past 2.5 years!

Matt, our co-workers and I recently planned (with the local PFLAG group) U.S. Consulate-Guangzhou’s inaugural Gay Pride Month of events. We hosted an event each Thursday for the month of June. The first two were panels on being out at work and the coming out. The second two were screenings of the movies “Milk” and “Stonewall Uprising”. The interest in the event was amazing! The room only held 50 seats, but at least 120 people came for the first two events. The events gave me an opportunity to connect with the local LGBT group and see how Chinese people view LGBT people. Though religion plays a big role in impacting how many Americans view LGBT people, cultural traditions is the primary role in impacting how Chinese people view LGBT people. There were so many brave LGBT youth that came to provide visibility and educate the audiences. I’m so excited for what’s to come for the Guangzhou LGBT community in the coming future.

A visual on how large our attendance was for our LGBT pride events. Look, Matt's the featured speaker! :)

Since Matt and I are moving to Beijing next year, I’ve begun applying for jobs. Keeps your fingers crossed and/or send your positive energy this way! J

The China Life

Hong Kong: Big Buddha in April (part weather, pollution)

Matt and I have gotten accustomed to the life here in Guangzhou. The weather has certainly improved. Apparently, January through March are the cloudiest and coldest months. With no rain and little wind, the pollution sits. The pollution can get so bad that you can barely see the building next to you. You walk outside and the lungs and eyes begin to burn. Because it’s now rainy season, the winds wash the pollution away and you can actually see blue skies. It’s also the beginning of typhoon season. The best weather is right before a typhoon, where the typhoon sucks all the pollution away. There were two typhoons that nearly hit Guangzhou, producing lots of rain, but also amazing weather. It really made me miss California weather!

Hong Kong: Big Buddha in July (during typhoon)

Besides pollution, another big downside is being prone to getting sick. At work, we are constantly interviewing or interacting with those who are seeking immigrant or non-immigrant visas. Lately, a flu broke out and got almost half the people sick at work. Guangzhou is also the place where many world pandemics originated (i.e., H1N1, SARS). We actually live down the street from where H1N1 originated. So, we have to be careful. Purell is a common item seen in the Consulate. To prevent illness, I've been sleeping more (8-9 hours/night) and drinking more water. Last month, we received warning of the bird flu. A kid from Guangzhou who went to Hong Kong got really sick. He was later diagnosed with the bird flu. Fortunately, we haven’t of a breakout since then.

The diplo-dorm crew at my birthday boat party in Hong Kong.

Outside of work, Matt and I hang out with our co-workers. Since we live in a building with only American diplomats (aka the diplo-dorm), we tend to have gatherings involving food and drink (i.e., game nights, taco nights, brunches). People are really great here; although, it’s difficult for single folks. It’s hard to date/find partners because you’re constantly travelling and working. It can be especially lonely because much of the time, one (with no partner) is by themselves-living, travelling, etc. Hence, this type of lifestyle often forces people to get married in a quick amount of time. Most officers only have two to three years at a post. If they fall in love, don’t get married, and their next post is thousands of miles away, the relationship will likely not last. A good handful of folks I met here were either recently married or married less than a year before coming to post. Others recently broke up before coming to post.

Southeast Asian and Domestic Travels
Since the last update, Matt and I have gone to: Taipei (Taiwan), Hanoi (Vietnam), Koh Samui and Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and Hong Kong (at least once a month), and places in China (Xi’An, Guilin/Yangshuo, Shanghai). We basically travel somewhere at least twice a month. We figure since we’ll only be in Southern China for one year, we’re going to take advantage of the shorter and cheaper travel to Southeast Asia.

Xi'An: Bell tower at sunset.

After doing some traveling, my favorite locations involved nature and/or an experience unique to that area. For example, I loved Xi’An, not for it’s terra cotta warriors, but biking on it’s city walls. The perspective from there was amazing (i.e. tops of old Chinese roofs, old part of the city, new part of the city from above)! Since I currently live in a city with over 18 million people, it’s also refreshing to get into nature. We loved Koh Samui, an island off Thailand. We primarily relaxed, went to the beach, and ate a lot of amazing Thai food. We’re dying to come back very soon! I was surprised I didn’t like Hanoi. I expected it to be very quaint and for the food to be amazing. However, I experienced a high volume of air and noise pollution. Nearly all the locals use noisy electrical bikes, so it was quite overwhelming at first. Additionally, the food was pretty good and not amazing. I still consider the Vietnamese food in America to be better than Hanoi’s. I still do have to Saigon to visit. I hear that’s where the best Vietnamese food is (at least from my parents and Vietnamese-Americans say).

Taipei: Chiang Kai Shek Memorial

Because work is busiest during the summer months, it's hard for Matt and I to take vacation during that time. In the meantime, we’ll continue our once-a-month visit to Hong Kong. At the end of this month, I’m celebrating my 30th birthday with 30+ friends on a junk boat cruise through the islands near Hong Kong. I’m totally excited! Matt recently bought a car and once the car gets its plates, we’ll be taking weekend road trips out and explore Southern China. We’ll definitely head back to Yangshuo! More to come!