After more than a month in China, yesterday was my first ok day. It wasn’t spectacular, it wasn’t horrible, it was just a day. Dare I say it was average? Even more astonishing, today was the same. Overall, it was a good day, my nerves weren’t burned to a fray only to be replaced by something fantastically good.
I have never been so thankful for mediocrity.
It’s nice to be able to take a break from my Drama Queen throne and join the masses of normal lives. I’m sure my peaceful little bubble will be burst soon, within 24 hours I’m sure.
Tomorrow Alex and I are meeting with the Director of International Programs to discuss our contracts. It’s not going to be fun. There have been a number of things that the university has not come through on according to the contract and we need to negotiate a solution.
(Ugh, I could be a contractual consultant after this business with the university, it’s tricky to just wing it when it comes to breaches of a contract).
Of course, using formal contractual jargon is out of the question given the language barrier, which is sort of a blessing given my lack of experience with the contract lingo.
However, my go-to argument style usually involves breaking out as many big words that I know how to correctly use in a rapid fire verbal assault that most times leaves the victim wondering what in the world just happened. I definitely need to re-strategize for tomorrow.
In addition, I need to negotiate whether I will stay until May or go home in January. I want to stay – I’m finally over my initial fear of this place and am now left with a huge cavern of curiosity that needs to be filled.
Here’s my take on China, he’s no longer the abusive boyfriend – rather, he’s the badass guy I’m trying to date. (Hopefully China doesn’t mind me continually comparing it to stereotypical men…) At any rate, when he’s nice to me, he’s fantastic. When he’s a jerk, he’s ruthless. My thought is that if I stay longer I’ll either a) tame him or b) learn to adjust to his mood swings.
Obviously, the country isn’t going to change but I feel pretty confident that I can adapt without suffering too much abuse.
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