As mentioned previously I said farewell to my "quest for a better life" blog. That blog felt to me more like a journal, a public journal and thus had limitations in tone and content. Originally I was going to start a completely new blog on a different site with a very focused subject matter: Chasing my dreams. I was going to document my journey through various dreams of mine, using video and podcast as the main media. However I quickly scrapped this idea. Here's why:
1) It was too narrow and felt like I was limiting my thinking and writing too much
2) Dancing and singing (first 2 dreams) all of a sudden felt like work. I was preparing video and articles all while learning and trying to keep up a good pace.
3) It didn't feel like I was adding anything useful to the world, but rather just telling my story and hoping someone got something useful out of it. A little too selfish - not the change I need.
I re-gathered my thoughts and realized a re-focus of my attention doesn't have to be so far and be so limiting. I also realized that I should focus more on my strengths for topics that I write about. I can mix in experimental topics, but it should be through a lens that I hold with confidence. I also need a topic that is more involving for the reader - something that can be immediately helpful, whether through how-to or insight; this will solve the problem of the last blog being too "journalish."
So I decided to revamp this blog and bring it back under a different guise. Instead of just writing random thoughts with a loose theme of "improvement" or "personal critical thinking," I'm going to write about what is probably most interesting to the rest of the world and is a personal passion of mine - China.
By writing about China I can start to document and make more sense of my time here; since one of my goals in coming to China was to compare Chinese customs and thinking to American ones and challenge my all of my socially conditioned thoughts, writing a blog will help with that. People are becoming more and more interested in China, thus information from ground-zero will be helpful to those who are looking to discover the middle kingdom. I can write "how-to"s that can help people who want to come here, but am not limited to that as I can write critical pieces that can help people understand the people here. This spreads awareness between cultures.
China is a very complicated place with a culture that may seem incomprehensible to most people. Actually most people have no idea what Chinese culture is and probably have never tasted real Chinese food. Chinese food isn't sweet and sour pork, fried rice, and chopsticks - although that's the image that appears in the West. Chinese culture isn't all about martial arts and dragons. There is a lot more to Chinese culture than most people know, and this blog is going to uncover that for everyone to see and make it easy to understand.
So why me? Why can I do this? Shouldn't this be a topic for a PHD program? Isn't it ridiculously complicated and will require advanced terminology and a really long book with hundreds of interviews?
Cultural understanding should not be the realm of the highly educated or rich, it should be for the average person as well. There are average people in China, just like in America, so descriptions do not have to be too complicated. I will be writing through experience, not through study - that is the important distinction. I have studied Chinese history, a lot of Chinese language, and have lived in this society for over 2 years now almost 100% immersed.
I believe that academics often miss a lot of things while they are here, because they are here with the initial purpose of studying China and it's people - like rats. They do surveys and set up specific interviews - this can answer specific questions that were thought up while abroad, but I think this kind of mindset is too limiting to truly dig into another society. A blog as a medium for writing about and understanding China is more flexible and hopefully will be easier to understand for the average reader who doesn't have the time or patience to get through a 300 page thorough sociology book about how the Chinese mind works.
So here I go. This is not quite a new journey as I've been on it for 2 years already now, but it is new as it now has a purpose. Come with me on a journey into an amazing place that is renowned for the richest culture in the world, used to be the richest country in the world, and is on the way to once again standing on its feet and gaining international glory. But let's not stop there - let's meet the people and share with them. The world is no longer flat and we should not treat it that way. Let's meet our new neighbors and welcome them with open arms. Welcome to China.
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2 comments:
Wow, definitely a different direction for your blog. But a good change I think. I think we all have to rediscover our passions along the way when they are lost, and it's good to find that something that really brings it out to the forefront again. I look forward to reading about what you have to say about China, since I am one of those people who know very little about it. Good luck man, you know I always have your back!
(Smile..) You have a interesting Experience! with a different mentality and different approach through many things. Through finding a beautiful place in the world--(China.) Gives you such a nice possibility. With each of that one more of every experience becomes more richer in your strength of knowledge. I like the idea of your discovery in the " Middle Kingdom" Also I am Interested and curious about China hoping to one day visit. Your possibility that gives others to practically realize your journey through many Experience that we all can learn from and experience with you.
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