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| Blogs > Casablanca1942 > Rick's Cafe Americain |
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Vacation Over, Time to Work Wow! I had a great vacation and now I have this really great job sitting in this nice office with a view of the brick side of a building. Oh well, it is a job. It is going to pay the bills. It is not nine-to-five, more like five am to nine pm but that is what I am paid for. Plus, I get to rack up a lot of air miles traveling on the company's dime to some interesting places. I could not believe all the nice people my relatives introduced me to during my stay in China. I was old enough to be the father of some of the young ladies but they didn't seem to care. Really nice and very well educated, some even with great jobs. Now, I am wondering if they are interested in me or in a chance to come to America. Regardless, the possibilities are endless. Just wish I had had more time to get out and visit more places. High light of the trip was standing on the Chinese side of the border staring into North Korea. I visited the various Korean War monuments erected by the Chinese. Dandong seems to be like a frontier city on the outskirts of Chinese civilization. It has the high rises but in the back alleys you can find old buildings waiting to be torn down. People, probably squatters, live in them. In those areas, the smell is god-awful; probably they do not have any sewers. Jilin was a wonderful experience. Met so many relatives I have never met but my parents kept introducing my sister and me to more and more. It seems that every night our dinner table was filled with total strangers to me but they all seemed to know my parents quite well. This job is a god sent and I need to say that I am grateful for the friends who steered me to it. I was deployed overseas with my reserve unit. When I returned the company I had worked for had closed down my department and were in the process of laying off more workers. Under U.S. law, they had to offer me a job that paid as much as what I was earning before but then again there really was not a job there. I was drawing unemployment while looking for that elusive job and during those four months, it was depressing. I had saved quite a bit while I was on active duty so I was slowly burning through my savings and often deferring a lot of expensive maintenance on my car and home. At least I can turn on the heat this winter in my small home. Break is over. Time to get back to work. |
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Congratulations on your new job.. and I think going back to China for visiting of friends & relatives usually will be an eye opener for everyone. My sister and I accompanied our parents on their trip to China. The trip took a big chunk out of my savings but it was worth every cent. My parents met many of their university friends and people they had grown up with. I'm not sure how many were successful but the ones who were seemed to be better dressed then the others. Have you been back to China to visit your relataives?
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Yes, it is good to have a job again. Here in the U.S. it seems that people who are over age 39 have a difficult time finding work after they have been laid off. Maybe employers think that we ask too much for our labor. We have lots of experience but I guess companies would rather hire inexperienced young workers because they cost less then we old people do. It seems that people think that Chinese people in China must have a good living. But I visited some factories and saw the dormatories where many of the workers lived. It shocked me to learn that many of them have families thousands of miles away and they are working hard to send money back to their home village. I met many well educated people but I wonder if they will be successful. It's like they are put into a slot and that's where they will stay for the rest of their lives. Our company only gives two weeks vacation per year for new hires so I won't have any real opportunity to really visit China again. I'll just be one of those 10 day tourists who are too busy seeing the sights to really experience the country and the people.
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Acutally, my parents reside in Columbia, MD and they are currently in china for a few months. My sister and her family and I joined them there for a few weeks. Met a lot of relatives and some even brought their unmarried daughters for me to meet. Most of them only had one child so I guess they are looking after their daughter's interest. I guess match making is a universal thing.
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Ah, but I wish I were in France on a study vacation such as you are!
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Don't mention it. No, I have not visit my relatives in China because my maternal aunt(my mum's second sister) has passed away and if I do visit Guangzhou in the near future, I might just pay my uncle a visit. Kinship is very important to us especially the Chinese. I hope you did gain some priceless knowledge and valuable insight from your trip. Really enjoyed the trip. No tour groups to worry about. Walked the back alleys and got a chance to really explore the towns I visited. Highlight was looking south into North Korea. Got a chance to use some of the Korean language I picked up when I was stationed in Korea in the 1980s.
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 I hope you have a good mood every day
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I hope you have a good mood every day
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