The Kangaroo and the Dragon

Todd (陶德先生)是我在青海认识的朋友。他是澳洲人，中文名字应该是他自己改的。他在青海的一个民间机构做了两年义工，还结识了土族姑娘并已成为他的太太。他能说流利的普通话，也学会了中文，甚至念唐诗也难不到他。 现在他和太太在北京，最近收到了他的最新消息并给他回了信。

Hi Todd,

Nice to hear from you again! I am busying in taking care of a boy from Qinghai. He's a student studying in our project school in Huzhu. I found him sufferred from serious eye disease during my visit last year. The 8 year old boy, sufferred from rolling eyes, cataract, lazy eye and far-sight seeing, is a Tu minority. He's taking the train from Xining to Guangzhou accompanying by his father. I pick them up in Guangzhou and took them to Hong Kong for detail check up. We've sponsored him to do the laser operation and now taking rest at hostel. I will take them to Guangzhou again next week for taking the train back to Qinghai again.

The 4 project schools in Guanting is receiving our continue support for maintenance this year. Some new projects started in Xunhua Salar County since late 2007. A reconstruction project was terminated before starting in Gangcha County due to the change of project school site by the government.

On the other hand, there would be new projects in Gansu for post-quake reconstruction. As you may know, most resources and money rushed to Sichuan, though Gansu was the second hardest-hit province. Rare media coverage for Gansu which is the poorest province in China now. I encounter big problem in dealing with the local governments, even though we are partnering with Lanzhou University. Luckily, another new NGO founded after the earhtquake in Hong Kong, named Engineers without Borders, is cooperating with us in order to reinforce the construction safety starting from design.

By the way, I am planning for some culture tourism in my spare time with friends. Hope you are going well with Yuxiang and enjoy life in Beijing.

Cheers
Walter

--- 2008年9月10日 星期三，Todd Owen 寫道﹕
日期: 2008 9 10 星期三 上午 8:06

Dear Friends,

Two years have passed since the last entry on my website, but not a lot has changed. My job is the same, even though the office has moved to the other side of town, and we have moved into a new apartment close by in Tiaoqiao North Community. Yuxiang and I are still a couple, and since our wedding last October we even have two marriage certificates to prove it (one certificate each, which is how it's done in China). And Beijing has two or three new subway lines, thanks to the recent Olympics, but is still a transport nightmare.

I'm surviving here. Indeed, I'm surviving quite comfortably. And so it might seem a little ungrateful for me to say, life in Beijing is not everything I dreamed it would be. Or at least not yet...I still have hope, because even after all this time it feels like I am still settling in.
During my last three months in Qinghai, back in 2005, I posted a series of "artlogs" (October, November, and December) as I searched for a little bit of art and culture. I found some, but not much. Beijing, much as I expected, is very different. There's not just something new happening every day, there's lots happening every day. At the moment I only get information on events from one source, a weekly newsletter from the Beijinger which arrives in my mailbox every Friday, but even that's overwhelming.

Yet despite that ― or perhaps because of it ― Yuxiang and I only manage to get out and see a show or a concert or an exhibition about once, sometimes twice a month. And even then, it's always a last minute decision. It's certainly not because we've planned it, and actually know what's going on in this crazy city. I'm ashamed to say that tourists who have been in Beijing for a week often know more good venues than I do!

Of course, missing all this wouldn't be so bad if we were out chatting with friends over roast duck and green tea, but even that doesn't seem to happen very often. Making friends in a new city is always hard, but to be honest I don't keep in very good contact with old friends either, such as Li Qingtao and Tie Cheng. When the city's so big, and everyone's so busy, it's such a challenge just finding a place and time to meet.

Having said that, it's a bit hard to claim that you are socially isolated when you're married or living with a partner ― Yuxiang and I often go out for a meal together on the weekend, or chat at home in the evenings, so as individuals we don't actually lack company. But I'd like to know what's going on in other people's lives too. If only I could manage to (a) meet with somebody I'm not married to, and (b) watch an event that's not on YouTube once every weekend, then I think I would be satisfied.

As for the other five days of the week, I'm still settling into work as well. When starting a new job, you have to plan on a few months time to learn the ropes, but even after two years I have to say I'm still struggling a bit. I'm also getting tired of Beijing's unofficial standard 9-hour office day, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. But work is a big topic, which I may write about again in detail one day.
Despite all these complaints, I still like living in Beijing, and there are opportunities here which I wouldn't have anywhere else. There are simply some changes which I'd like to make. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to make them, but I'm certainly going to try.

Love Todd

Recent news:
- I have joined a nearby gym, where I now go most mornings to exercise.
- Yuxiang's cousin Qin Chao has gone to America to study a four-year degree in finance.
- In Ritan Park, we played a round on what may be Beijing's only public mini-golf course ― it was almost deserted, apart from the mosquitoes.
- Healthlink invited Yuxiang to attend a 5-day workshop in India, but she had to cancel the trip because her visa wasn't processed in time.
- We went on a weekend car trip to Inner Mongolia, with a colleague Cai Lingping and her husband Li Lei. An afternoon of horse-riding on the grasslands left us sore for the next week!

This letter is also available on my website, The Kangaroo and the Dragon.
Website-only feature: What's Tianqiao North Community?