Laowais and Lessons

Sheesh, I sound like a typical moaning expat...Ok, contrary to my first few posts, there are positives to living here. I like the Chinese approach to life and I have made a lot of friends here, some of which I would like to talk about here. I'll start with the expat community, who I generally try not to associate myself with but there are some who are ok and a handful I would call true friends.

A lot of the expats I know here have come to China to teach English. For a lot of them it’s a chance to experience another country and get paid for it, fair play to them. Andrew Quast falls into this category and is the one I know best. A young lad from British Columbia, Canada who is sort following his older brothers footsteps by teaching here. An intelligent young guy, who's a little rough around the edges and likes a drink; but his heart is in the right place. It is via Andrew that I know all the other teachers here of which there are around a dozen. The majority are cool people who I would call friends but there a few who fall into the douche category. One chap, who I have recently befriended, left everything behind in Australia to teach here; that’s how much he loved it here. Michael had been to Zhuhai 3 or 4 times prior to his decision to relocate here. Despite him having all the prerequisites to teach here, he is still unemployed as he has decided to enjoy his time here before embarking on his teaching career.

Although I would class him as an oddball, I find Paul, a chap from Merseyside UK pleasant company. Paul comes to Zhuhai to stay with his brother, who owns a company here and incidentally is my boss. Paul is, in my mind, typical of the kind of chap you would find in a pub in the UK; crude humour, likes a beer and likes football. Due to the fact he is from the UK and supports my team, I have a good rapport with Paul and enjoy his company.

Phil, is probably the first foreigner I met here in Zhuhai and is my closest friend here in China. Phil was recruited from Australia to work here as a specialist engineer; a job which he is very good at. We share similar interests and I always enjoy our conversations and discussions which range from the metaphysical to who is the last girl we would sleep with from the places we drink at. Believe it or not, he has taught me a lot about the social life in China. I ascribe this to his ability to party with anyone and like a stereotypical Aussie, drinks like a fish. A very good friend who I hope continues to be regardless of where either of us ends up.