Going Back to China
14 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in Traveling Tags: China, dating, driving, humor, work
I rolled through an intersection without stopping. I pounded, tapped, blasted, and played the car horn like a motherfucking riot. And wherever I went pedestrians and motorists alike trembled in fear. America is a diverse country. That was something I had missed while teaching in Hunan last year. I had missed the Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals, hipsters, Goths, jocks, blacks, whites, yellows, reds, gays, conservatives, liberals, independents, blondes, brunettes, etc., etc. Everybody was fiercely self-expressive. But when I drove in the traditional Hunanese Driving Style, I got to see the one thing they all had in common: In a flash their facial muscles flexed, pupils dilated, white teeth showed, and cheeks burned red. And then their eyes and faces melted into confusion. Yes, I am an asshole. It felt so good to be American once again.
But on the other hand I had China withdrawal symptoms. I missed China. I missed the rush of riding helmetless on motorcycle taxis through, against, and between oncoming traffic. It made me feel like Han Solo (“Never tell me the odds!”) racing through asteroids while gunned down by Imperial Tie Fighters. Living in China was a potent and lethal addiction, for China is a drug. Its novelty and strangeness and chance of death had ways of pumping your dopamine levels to Everestian heights. But it was unhealthy too.
Bear Fighting in Cyberspace
20 Nov 2009 1 Comment
in Traveling Tags: America, anomie, CASPA, China, College of William and Mary, global economic downturn, grail, jobs, T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land, University of Vermont, Yale University
Some have wondered if I will one day practice medicine in China. During an interview at Rocky Mountain College, home of the Battlin’ Bears, the director had even suggested that I could do a clinical rotation here. The thought had occurred to me many times. Many friends and fellow Bull Dogs from Yale University’s PA program completed international rotations in Latin America, South East Asia, and the Middle East. Yale even has a tropical medicine rotation in Kampala, Uganda. This feature was one of the major draws that lured me into their program back in 2007. In any case, I believe my international experience – of which my time in China is the backbone — will be an asset as the PA profession continues to globalize, and more international students attend American PA schools to bring the Rod of Asclepius back to their own countries.
Lit Week 1: Intro to Thoreau
08 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Podcasts Tags: China, Classes, Literature, Students, Teaching
I gave students an assignment: read Thoreau’s essay “Reading” and make notations about passages that have special meaning. For instance, why does Thoreau refer to some readers as cormorants and ostriches?
Lit Week 1: Why Read?
07 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Podcasts Tags: China, Literature, Students, Teaching
Through various readings, I find out how familiar students are with Western literature. One poem about the Congo River by Vachel Lindsay, an American, intrigues them. They ask if it is really a “rap” song…
