Public Displays of Affection

In the wake of China reopening its borders to the world in 1979 sex was taboo. Indeed, all Chinese dressed in similar, asexual outfits and the women all had short and rather butch haircuts. More to the point, couples were never seen outside holding hands or engaging in any other display of affection. According to several people who have lived in China for several years, the lack of public displays of affection continued well into the 1990s. Although things slowly became more relaxed, hand holding and public affirmations of one’s sexuality were still discouraged.
Now, things have changed. As I bike around Beijing everyday, I am struck by the number of couples who hold hands, grope and do innumerable things that are considered distasteful back in the States. In fact, a friend actually witnessed two couples “in the act” in a public park. At noon. On a tueday. I, for one, commend the Chinese for becoming more in touch with their sexuality. I also find it interesting that the recent economic liberalization has been mirrored by increased openness about sexuality. While many couples comprised on consenting adults look more like overzealous middle schoolers in the States than the University students/consenting adults they are, I find it to be a good and positive sign that life is becoming increasingly free in China.

Setting Up a Life Takes Time

Before I arrived in Beijing, I had anticipated that I’d be able to find a job, lease an apartment and switch my visa from a tourist one to a work one within a month. Alas, things in Beijing take longer than I anticipated. I think that the reason I underestimated the difficulty associated with getting set-up in a new country was that I had never done it before as a non-student. In fact, the differences between living as a study abroad student in Sydney and as a recent college graduate in Beijing are massive. One of the side effects of the amount of time it takes to get acclimated has been my failure to update this page for several weeks—something for which I apologize.
So, without further adieu, a proper update:

The most important thing I’ve learned thus far in Beijing is that happenstance matters. What I mean by that is that sometimes things that seem to be logical and well structured don’t work out, while a chance meeting can lead to something substantial. For example, I’ve been in e-mail contact with an individual who helps find high school kids home stays in late September. While he assured me in within 24 hours of the initial e-mail I sent to him that finding me a home stay family would not be a problem, he sent me an e-mail last week informing me that he had passed my inquiry on to someone else, who he promised would look into finding a place for me. While this could have been a terrible setback, it turned out to be for the best as I had independently found a place to live the day before.
Last Sunday I went to a lecture given by several young professionals who are investing capital in yak cheese and yak wool, or “yashmere.” After the lecture on the merits of sustainable development and investing in Western China concluded, I went over to talk to a few friends across the room. It was during this time that I ran into someone I had met previously, but did not know too well. After chatting for a few minutes, I learned that she had recently moved into a new place and was looking for a roommate. After grabbing lunch and seeing the place last Monday, I decided to move in.
The place is great; close to the school I’m currently attending, walking distance from most of the expat bars and in an apartment complex that is split between expats and Chinese.
As a fringe benefit, she is looking to do a half iron man in March in California. As I’ve always wanted to do triathlons, I took it as a sign and did a 15 km run with her and several other Beijing triathlon people yesterday. So I’m sore, but feeling good about the prospects of training for something again.
Finally, I’ve decided that I want to find a job. I’m tired of just studying—I’ve been doing to for far too long. I’m just ready to get out there, find a job, and see what happens. I have informal lunches lined up with people from a few law reform organizations in the next two weeks, so hopefully something will work out with them. If not, I’m planning on heading to the American Chamber of Commerce and trying to figure something out. So that’s a brief update. I will write a piece about the North Korean nuclear issue and the Chinese perspective soon.In closing, I’d like to point out that, while e-mail is a great and convenient tool, I think that it provides us with a false sense of how easy it is to get things done. What I mean to say is that I’ve spent a considerable amount of time sending e-mail to people and waiting. And waiting. And waiting. So I guess that, while it’s a nice tool, I tend to rely on it too heavily. This week I hope to fix that problem by going to more places in person.