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Sometimes, I tell myself before I drive to Tony to school is to be calm. Expect the idiots and don't get upset by their bad driving! I say over and over again.. But it is easier said than done. Sometimes, you get idiots that are so aggressive in traffic that you can't be magnanimous. Recently, I saw a guy who was so aggressive in cutting in that I made a point of blocking him, even drifting into another lane to do so. Little people, are some of these Chinamen in cars. If they tried to cut in like that when walking when they should justly be elbowed in the face.
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Second time in a week, the traffic signals stop working as I come to an intersection. I was in front of the line so I just tried to get through before chaos ensued. I succeeded but wonder if the traffic camera caught me.
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After I drop off Tony, I drive back to Stately Kaulins Manor and park the Citroen in our assigned parking spot. I turn off the ignition and bring out my phone and I open a prayer app on my phone and pray. Sometimes, I have this sweet feeling of silence and calmness. It can be the best moment of my day.
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I listened to a debate about God and Evolution between the atheist Dawkins and John Lennox. Two observations: 1)The debate meandered. 2)Neither knocked out the other. If I was open-mined about the issues – I wasn't, I was cheering for Lennox – I would say that the God question is an open question still. Lennox I found more likable. Dawkins was no help on how to live our lives with a deity. What did Dawkins mean by "live your life to the fullest'?
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I arrived home at 8:30 PM on a Wednesday evening. The door was locked, so I knocked. My wife Jenny opened the door with a scowl on her face. She said nothing to me and and in a huffy manner, went back to Tony's room. My biggest evening fear had been realized: Jenny was tiger-mothering Tony about his schoolwork. I took a brief look in the room and Tony had tears in his eyes. Jenny eventually stopped tutoring him at 11:00 PM. Is it just me or is this nuts? I got a tongue-lashing the next morning with Jenny telling me that my attitude was bad and this was affecting Tony. Could it be that she is giving both Tony & me a bad attitude? I don't know what I can do about Tony's attitude to school. I worry about his education but couldn't give a damn about his schooling. And it was Tony who posed the following question to me: "China is boring. Why did you move here?" This thought was original to Tony. At the time he said it, I counted it as a kid saying the darnedest thing; now, I look at it in a different light. He was being very clear-eyed and observant. The problem as I see it is Jenny's narrow mindset. To be fair, it is a result of her experiencing poverty that I never had to deal with. But it is a very materialist mindset and based on a flawed theory of education. (Are there any other expat fathers with Chinese mothers and their children stuck in the mainland China schooling system? Please, please email me.)
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It is perilous to be a pedestrian in mainland China. Drivers won't slow down for them and will even swerve to avoid slowing down for them. Drivers will even use the mass and size of their vehicles to force pedestrians to yield right of way to them. I witnessed this latter practice on a Thursday morning. The situation: Green pedestrian light. I proceeded. Ahead of me was a couple of locals. A black SUV making a left turn pulls in front of the couple. They stop. I don't. I pass the couple and make the SUV yield to me. I was glad I did. But I wonder why the local pedestrians put up with such rude behavior on the part of drivers.
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