Year one, an overview
Yeah, yeah it's a week late, so sue me. On Nov. 13, I marked a year in this quasi citystate.
Was it worth it? To be honest, I dunno. I really like my job, but as most coworkers know, what I really like about my job is leaving my job at the job. And that's the problem with this city: it's a great city for workaholics, but not a great city for those who love life outside of work, especially anything to do with culture.
Music here is bleak, at best. While I never went to theater in Chicago much, I did go see more than my fair share of improv, and there's little of either here. The movie scene is pretty tame, though an occasional watchable movie somehow sneaks into the theaters. And the art scene here is a) too expensive at the gallery level and b) too crappy at the museum level. And it's still tough to bike and run outdoors here.
There are benefits, though. I really do like my job, and with the chaos my industry is in, our owners offer a rare sea of stability. The expats continue to be super friendly in this town. (Case in point: I was at a group dinner on Saturday filled mostly with people i never met before. All were super friendly, though I never have felt so stupid as when at the end, where the conversation turned to statistics and story problems, as they all were economists. But just to prove I'm not nuts about the arts scene here, an English teacher next to me asked if I had seen a new exhibit at the art museum here, with some stuff from the Pompidou, which I said I had. Said teacher then asked if he had ever seen a display curated so crappily, or lit so crappily either, and I couldn't have agreed more. Either way, I continue to be amazed at the varied and interesting conversations I get into with just random people you meet at parties and gatherings in this town. Chicago was full of fun, interesting people, but it seems there are even more in this town. Then again, Chicago has more cultural offerings to consume your time; here, it's about shopping and thinking stuff up.)
The weather is a mixed bag. It's nice to be able to wear shorts on your day off, no matter what day of the year it is, but the haze/smog/breath-sucking pollution has been brutal lately.
Sure, there's a lot to do yet here. I do get into funks more than I did in Chicago. It's natural, being halfway across the world from all you've known and all you've done. I've given up a steady diet of music, Cubs games and trips to see friends and family whenever I wanted.
In return, I've tested my ability to adjust, and passed, I think. I've made more money, and paid down some of my bills, and I should be in great shape before 2007 is over. Plus, I have taken a few trips and seen things I never thought I would. And it should get even better in a few weeks, when I get to take a trip to somewhere south of here. Was everything as good as I thought it would be? No. Were the bads far less worse than I feared they could be? Yes. I really came to this region to give myself the opportunity to travel. I need to do more in this coming year, and I will. The first year was adjustment, settling in, dropping a shitload of money on buying all new stuff (ah, stuff...what would we do without it?). This year, I want to see Thailand more. I want to see Vietnam. Maybe a trip, even a long weekend to Tokyo to see baseball and drink the microbrews that are touted. Go to a rock festival, or just a decent concert in Japan. Go to Taipei to see the music scene there, which is supposed to be good. Go to Seoul to see what all the buzz is about.
Will I do all this? Probably not. But I want to do at least some of it. It's why I travelled over here, dammit. And while my jaunt over here hasn't been all peaches and cream, I came here for a reason, and I've just started to seize on it. So give my first year a C÷, trending upward.
Was it worth it? To be honest, I dunno. I really like my job, but as most coworkers know, what I really like about my job is leaving my job at the job. And that's the problem with this city: it's a great city for workaholics, but not a great city for those who love life outside of work, especially anything to do with culture.
Music here is bleak, at best. While I never went to theater in Chicago much, I did go see more than my fair share of improv, and there's little of either here. The movie scene is pretty tame, though an occasional watchable movie somehow sneaks into the theaters. And the art scene here is a) too expensive at the gallery level and b) too crappy at the museum level. And it's still tough to bike and run outdoors here.
There are benefits, though. I really do like my job, and with the chaos my industry is in, our owners offer a rare sea of stability. The expats continue to be super friendly in this town. (Case in point: I was at a group dinner on Saturday filled mostly with people i never met before. All were super friendly, though I never have felt so stupid as when at the end, where the conversation turned to statistics and story problems, as they all were economists. But just to prove I'm not nuts about the arts scene here, an English teacher next to me asked if I had seen a new exhibit at the art museum here, with some stuff from the Pompidou, which I said I had. Said teacher then asked if he had ever seen a display curated so crappily, or lit so crappily either, and I couldn't have agreed more. Either way, I continue to be amazed at the varied and interesting conversations I get into with just random people you meet at parties and gatherings in this town. Chicago was full of fun, interesting people, but it seems there are even more in this town. Then again, Chicago has more cultural offerings to consume your time; here, it's about shopping and thinking stuff up.)
The weather is a mixed bag. It's nice to be able to wear shorts on your day off, no matter what day of the year it is, but the haze/smog/breath-sucking pollution has been brutal lately.
Sure, there's a lot to do yet here. I do get into funks more than I did in Chicago. It's natural, being halfway across the world from all you've known and all you've done. I've given up a steady diet of music, Cubs games and trips to see friends and family whenever I wanted.
In return, I've tested my ability to adjust, and passed, I think. I've made more money, and paid down some of my bills, and I should be in great shape before 2007 is over. Plus, I have taken a few trips and seen things I never thought I would. And it should get even better in a few weeks, when I get to take a trip to somewhere south of here. Was everything as good as I thought it would be? No. Were the bads far less worse than I feared they could be? Yes. I really came to this region to give myself the opportunity to travel. I need to do more in this coming year, and I will. The first year was adjustment, settling in, dropping a shitload of money on buying all new stuff (ah, stuff...what would we do without it?). This year, I want to see Thailand more. I want to see Vietnam. Maybe a trip, even a long weekend to Tokyo to see baseball and drink the microbrews that are touted. Go to a rock festival, or just a decent concert in Japan. Go to Taipei to see the music scene there, which is supposed to be good. Go to Seoul to see what all the buzz is about.
Will I do all this? Probably not. But I want to do at least some of it. It's why I travelled over here, dammit. And while my jaunt over here hasn't been all peaches and cream, I came here for a reason, and I've just started to seize on it. So give my first year a C÷, trending upward.
posted by throm at 11:52 PM
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