December 2017 Diary

Email me at andiskaulins@qq.com or andiskaulins@hotmail.com

* * * * *

The first thing of note that I happened to see in December 2017 occurred as I was driving Tony to school on the morning of December 1^st. I saw a discarded shoe on the road that cars were swerving to avoid. How did the shoe get there? It is a mystery that is universal.

* * * * *

On December 2^nd, I took the 25 Bus to Li Zhang Station. Just as I was taking a step off the bus, I heard a scream and I was then run into by an old woman on an e-bike. She had the worse of the collision and was lying on the ground with her e-bike. I wasn't hurt but I quickly worried that the woman would try to ask me for money. What did happen was the woman screamed at me and I just stared at her. As she righted herself up, I tried to be friendly and lend a helping hand but she gave me a cold stare and continued on her way. She didn't seemed to have been hurt either. But she probably rode away thinking of my effrontery of getting in her way.

However, she was in the wrong like the driver of the car that almost hit Tony as he was getting off the bus one time. Don't these two (and many other locals I should add) realize that you can't pass a bus on its passenger side when it pulls into a bus stop and that you should expect that people will be getting off the bus?

* * * * *

On December 3^rd, I took Tony to swimming. Because Tony didn't want me to watch him swim and the lobby of the facility was too small, I stayed in the car and read books on my Ipad. I had to move over to the front passenger seat to get enough room.

* * * * *

Tony constantly reminds me about the Brickarms, Lego compatible war toys, that he wants for Christmas.

* * * * *

On December 4^th, I published the November blog entry.

In the morning, I took Tony to school. Lineups on the road by Tony's school were very long and slow moving, so Tony got impatient and got out of the car before we got to our normal drop-off stop. The jams this morning seemed to be caused by more than the usual amount of cars making u-turns and left-turns.

Because Tony got off early, I decided to drive through an apartment complex where I knew that one can park one's car for a nominal fee and also that the road through the complex could be a shortcut for me to get back home.

With three weeks till go to Christmas, I am feeling glum about what I will do for the holiday. Jenny has suggested that we will go to a Lego Town in Shanghai. Tony would love this but I worry about the place being mob-swamped. Our school will have a party but it will be lame with tawdry secular Christmas decorations and the party being done in a Chinese style with a boring performance program and lots of locals who are dead stiffs when it comes to socializing. I am thinking of not bothering with talking about the locals about Christmas because most of them won't care anyway. If I do, I will proclaim that it is a celebration of the birth of our Lord.

* * * * *

December 5^th is my brother Ron's birthday, or as Tony would say, Uncle Ron's birthday. My brother is a plumber in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He makes more money than me. Wisely, unlike me, he learned a trade. Only problem is that he works a lot, unlike me who is essentially hired to speak in English with locals. But my free time, I can do things that are free like read books I got from the Internet: with his tree time, Ron can go on trips. It is either a bit of this or bit of that.

I can remember when Ron born. When Mom was pregnant with him, I wanted a brother while my sister Benita wanted a sister.

It is a bloody shame that my Tony doesn't have a sibling. It is a bloody shame that many Chinese young people these days don't have siblings.

* * * * *

I stopped at a crosswalk for a pedestrian. The driver in the other lane didn't. He was in too much of a hurry and needed to stay close to the rear end of a car already stopped in a lineup.

* * * * *

I normally don't talk about the TV shows and movies I watch, and the books I read; but I think I will start doing so if something strikes me as being of particular interest.

I just finished binge-watching Season One of a TBS series “Search Party.” In the show, the girl decides to look for a classmate, with whom she sort of had an acquaintance with, who had gone missing. The search doesn't engross one so much as the characters our heroine interacts with as the story proceeds. Particularly engaging is the gay male character who appearances, even when standing by, are scene stealing. I watch show despite all the morally questionable things all the characters do.

* * * * *

Canada's Shiny New Primer Minister, son of Turdeau, is visiting China as I type this. The few students I have talked to about it weren't aware of it. When I told one lady that Chinese Prime Minister Li Kexiang (sounds like a cash register in operation) had said that China and Canada were experiencing a golden era of relations, the lady told me that the Chinese PM was spurting diplomatic bullshit. So, China is also in an era of golden relations with Austria, Estonia, Holland and Zimbabwe as well? I rejoindered.

* * * * *

It is also Advent as I type this. Am I doing anything about this? Yes. I am bringing out the Advent volume of the Liturgical Year Book set written by Abbot Prosper Gueranger from the drive of my Macbook and airdropping it on my Ipad Mini.

* * * * *

Returning from work early on the evening of December 6^th, I decided to stroll around the neighborhood instead of going straight home because I didn't want to watch Jenny tiger-mother Tony, and I was curious about what changes were taking place and how the locals were parking their cars. I saw that the empty field north of the California Villa Apartment Complex (which containeth Casa Kaulins) had been turned into a construction site with either more office buildings or apartment complexes; I saw that many of the retail spaces on the outside of the California Complex had become vacant; and I saw one office containing a lot of e-bikes with a poster portrait of Chairman Mao on the wall.

Very curious to me was the last sight. And the parking was ghastly.

* * * * *

What to say about December 7^th? I ask this because I have decided to make a daily entry for all 31 days in December and publish the results early next year.

I will intersperse these daily logs with thoughts that happen to occur to me.

Today, I have three classes at school. In the morning, I was busy doing other stuff. While I am not busy with tasks that have been imposed on me, I do keep myself busy with little daily requirements like: doing at least one French lesson, one Spanish lesson, one German lesson on the Duolingo app on my phone; reading a bit of the Bible, reading a page of Don Colacho Aphorisms, doing a lesson and a tone game on the Basic Chinese Skills app, studying some Latvian, doing further Chinese study from a book, reading some poetry, reading a prayer from my collection of Catholic Prayers, listening to a Learn French Podcast, listening to a Learn Mandarin Podcast, and reading a novel or non-fiction book.

It feels like winter is coming to Wuxi but I am not wearing a parka or toque. I am wearing four layers on top along with a mesh cap and staying quite warm, thank you very much. Two of these layers have hoods with which I can cover my head.

So, I think I have said something about December 7^th.

* * * * *

Now, what am I going to say about December 8^th? It is a Friday which with my schedule is more like a Thursday since Sunday and Monday are my days off.

I finished reading Dante's Divine Comedy last night. A great poem that I would love to be able to read in the original Italian.

Al Franken resigned his senate seat. [Sorry, he said he was going to resign it.] Since he became a politician, I found him repulsive, for after all, he ran for the Democrats. He wrote some book with a title that was an insult to Rush Limbaugh. If Franken was sliced up into small pieces and then put into a wood-chopper, the world would be a better place, and yet, when I heard of all the allegations against him about sexual harassment, it seemed underwhelming except to confirm the low opinion I had already had of him. It does seem like he was railroaded into resigning as part of some cynical ploy on the part of Democrats to discredit Roy Moore and Donald Trump.

* * * * *

Jenny says I never support her which is unfair of her to say, I think. If a wife is mistakenly heading off a cliff, it is a husband's duty to stop her. A husband shouldn't support his wife if he thinks she is wrong. At the same time, he has to always be there for his wife, never abandon her, think of her face or dignity, and make sacrifices if that is what it means to save the marriage.

* * * * *

December 9^th, Jenny tells me that Tony is as big as her. I think it is about time. And when he gets bigger, maybe she will stop tiger-mothering him.

It is also Saturday which means that I finish at 16:00 and Tony & I &,sometimes, Eric go to the BMC for dinner and beer.

This day, I started teaching a group, that I will be stuck for the foreseeable future, of kids. Quickly, I notice how each kid's ability and personality quickly comes out. Often, I hope these kids can alter themselves but I be darned if it ever happens.

* * * * *

December 10^th was a day off for me but not for my wife Jenny. She went to work and I did some chores at Casa Kaulins like cook for Tony.

Tony is a picky eater. He will eat the bacon I fry for him and the toast I butter for him, but he won't touch my fried potatoes which are lovingly fried in onions.

* * * * *

What do I want Xi Jing Ping to do? I would like him to become a Catholic Christian. From that a lot of good would follow, unless he becomes buddies with the current Pope. As it is, Xi is the greatest danger to the world currently.

* * * * *

Read a disturbing blog entry which defended China's Great Firewall. It first used the expression “digital sovereignty.” It then use supposed Russian meddling in American elections last year as proof that China that has to have the GFW to stop similar encroachments on its sovereignty like supposed American financing of disturbances in Hong Kong....

* * * * *

As the student said, Li Keqiang saying China and Canada were having an era of golden relations was just bullshit diplomatic talk. The Global Times had an editorial published after Trudeau's visit that said Canada can just go stuff it, especially because of its superior attitude which sees the PRC as a nothing but a dictatorship.

* * * * *

I have been in China too long. I am starting to think like the Chinese:

• I was trying to get on an elevator but some turd trying to get off wouldn't let me on. What a jerkoff!
• I was minding my own business, having just ridden the escalator and I was standing at the top of it, trying to decide where to go, when someone came from behind and shoved me out of the way. The nerve!
• I was trying to change lanes and the guy driving right beside wouldn't give way. Where's the courtesy?!?
• The no smoking sign in the elevator. Some ignoramuses get annoyed when I don't heed it. They even have the audacity to say something aloud about it to me.
• I honk my horn as I make a turn. You'd think the pedestrians in my way would have the common decency to stop and let my car through. Instead, they court death.
• There was a long lineup. I had no choice but to cut in the queue.
• Why should I stop for a red light?
• I can save a lot of money because the beds in Ikea are much more comfortable than what I have in my home.
• I really hate making a left-turn in rush hour. None of the cars coming from the opposite direction will let me go through.
• The light turned green so I better honk my horn.
• The car in front is slowing down for a pedestrian. I better honk my horn because he is slowing down.

* * * * *

It is December 11^th, a Monday, and I have decided to continue my moratorium on posting to WeChat till 2018. It will mean not wishing anyone Merry Christmas on WeChat, but so be it. It would be taken in the wrong way anyway if I did make the wishes. That is, I would be wishing them a secular Christmas.

I got the car washed this morning. Going to the car wash resulted in my wife getting a message to her phone and her phoning me to ask me where I was. The complex, in which the car wash is situated, has put up gates at its entrances in order to collect money for parking. The gates have technology that can read license plates which can then result in messages to be sent to the car owners' phones telling them that they have to pay parking. My wife reading one of these messages became instantly concerned.

With the use of Google Translate on my phone, I ask the car wash attendant, and he determined that I didn't have to pay.

Because I drove Tony to his school, I got to the car wash early and I was able to back at Casa Kaulins in time to take a video of a morning rush hour traffic jam that CK overlooked. I took a video and I think you may find some of the driver behavior interesting.

With two weeks till Christmas, I am observing Advent by consulting the the Advent volume of Abbot Prosper Gueranger every day.

* * * * *

December 12^th.

The night before, I was in an elevator with three Serbians. I was taking things to my wife's office which is on the 16^th floor. Going down, the elevator stopped on the 5^th floor and three foreigners entered: two men and a woman. I asked them where they were from, they told me Serbia, to which I replied “cool!” When they asked me where I was from, I told them Canada and they replied that Canada was a beautiful country. I really don't know what adjective I can use to describe Serbia other than cool. I know of some painful historical happenings for the Serbians in the 20^th century but I am not aware of what their virtues are.

The Serbian males are teaching football in some local schools, I do know. So I suppose I should have commended Serbia for its athletic prowess. (But it is their neighbors Croatia who have done well in Football and Basketball.)

The afternoon before, Jenny and I went to Metro which is normally a twenty minute drive from Casa Kaulins. Yesterday, it was a much longer drive because of a bridge being refurbished. This bit of roadwork caused a backup that took a long time to get through, so the drive to and from Metro was forty minutes. This traffic jam was particularly loathsome because I was in the midst of big trucks. If I was new to the road and didn't have GPS, I would certainly have been lost. As it was, I was familiar with the route and knew when I had to get in the right lane to make turns, and I saw some things on the side of the road, like subsistence farming, that I would normally have not had the time to see.

12/12 is another day of shopping promotions like 11/11. I asked students what shopping they had done. They asked me what shopping Jenny had done and I told them I didn't want to talk about it with her because I didn't want to give her any ideas.

I did 28 push-ups today. Recently, I have started trying to do this exercise on a daily basis, something I haven't done since I was in my late twenties. Back in the day I could rattle 50 or 60 pushups no problem, and one time, I even did 101 at one time. The 28 I did today required a lot of effort, or will, once I got to number 15. Maybe, if I keep this up, I will be easily able to do 30.

* * * * *

I am hoping Roy Moore wins the election for the senate seat. I think the charges against him are without basis, and even if there was something to the charges, it happened forty years ago and it seems he has lead an exemplary life since then. The charges seem an obvious hit job against a White and Very Conservative Christian. Even without the charges, I like the fact that an outspoken Christian Southerner, a type despised by all the “right” people, can have a say in the national conversation. He would bring diversity, much needed diversity to the US body politic.

* * * * *

On the morning of December 13^th, I saw on my Feedly App that the counting of the votes in the election involving Roy Moore was taking place and the result was going to be close.

The evening before, I was given a heads-up from a student about a ceremony taking place in Nanjing to mark the 70^th anniversary of the Nanking Massacre. The student was more concerned with the cancellation of high speed rail runs which were a security precaution being taken because Xi Jing Ping was attending the ceremony.

As I was on the train to work, I saw video of the ceremony with shots of rows upon rows of men wearing black clothing, a choir of woman dressed in white and a dour looking Chairman wearing a white carnation on his lapel.

I can't help but want to scoff when I see these ceremonies because they are put on by the Chinese Communists who are clearly and cynically using the fact of the massacre perpetuated by the Japanese to deflect attention from the massacres that they perpetuated on the Chinese people like the Chinese Civil War, Mao's brutal suppression of intellectuals in his rise to power, the let 10,000 flowers bloom scam, the useless sacrifice of Chinese lives in saving the North Korean regime, the famine caused by the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot style forced migration of citizens to the countryside, and massive environmental damage caused the party's adoption of Crony Capitalism with Chinese characteristics.

As it is, the Massacre did happen. And I can remember having anti-American Canadians, on a couple of occasions, trying to deny that the Massacre and other Japanese atrocities of that time never happened.

On this anniversary of the Massacre day, I have a Speaker's Corner but I won't bring up the subject of it. While I wouldn't probably mention my reasons for wanting to scoff, I would rather talk about a dark day in Latvian history with the Nazis and Soviets made their pact which resulted in a genocide of many Latvians. [The student with whom I had an argument with about the quality of Chinese driving manners raised the subject of the ceremony in Nanjing. It was just as I had imagined.]

It appears that Moore has lost the election. Disappointing.

* * * * *

I got the #25 bus at noon time on the 12^th and much to my surprise, all the seats were taken and I had to stand. But I was only going to the Subway station – not all the way downtown – and quickly accepted the fact that standing was what I was going to have to do. As I stood, I was able to look into cars on the passenger side of the bus. I should have taken a photo of one male driver of a bright orange Infiniti who was smoking and texting as he waited at a light. The bus then moved ahead as it got a turn signal and I then saw another driver, this time female, who was texting on her phone which was resting against her steering wheel.

* * * * *

On the evening of the 12^th, I had a class with a girl of university age who told me she spent her time either doing school things or going to an Internet Cafe. I had thought that Internet Cafes had become obsolete so I was curious as to who was still going to the places and why. She told me that the cafe had very powerful computers with large screens that were great for gaming, so many people of the video gaming age were going to these places. As well, she told me that there were older men, that is older than university age, who were spending evenings at these places too because they were reluctant to go home and spend time with their bothersome wives. I wondered if many of these men couldn't stand seeing their wives tiger-mother their children with homework.

* * * * *

It is December 14^th and I have finished reading a book of poetry by Coventry Patmore, a poet I had never heard of till David Warren did a blog entry about him earlier this month. I find the poetry very accessible and even cut and pasted some lines into my quotations file.

I listened to podcasts discussing the fallout from the Roy Moore election loss. So much blame to go around but what does it go to show? Politics is annoying business to follow and one is better off not having to follow it, living a life where one doesn't know who the leader of one's country or town or village is.

I think I will use this line on the students: to live where one doesn't know the name of the country's leader is the best because that is the place where one is most free.

* * * * *

I got invited to a party. Rare is it for me to get invitations. Having become resigned to not getting invitations and then getting in a mood to revel in the fact, getting an invitation is a real dilemma for me. It is probably for my own good that I get out and do something social but I am a man of habit whose habits are anti-social. And the idea of possibly meeting other Expats fills me with anxiety. What do I have to say to these people? How to explain my happily being in a rut? Pondering these questions and my instinct is to politely refuse the invitation saying I am busy. [The invitation is for Saturday the 16^th.]

* * * * *

December 15^th is the Friday before the second last weekend before Christmas. I plan on taking Tony to the store with the money I have saved up in the toy kitty I have at the office and just let him buy what he wants. I have told him the plan is he is very keen on it. As soon as I told him, he told me to not forgot about the money in the kitty in the office. And then he told me the next morning.

* * * * *

Have I complained about the local driving yet in this December entry? As I type this, I am too lazy to check but I believe I haven't. May lightning strike me if I am wrong!

Anyway, I have observed, because of a campaign by the local government, some cars stopping for pedestrians at zebra marked crosswalks. But of course not all cars are doing this, so what I have witnessed is cars stopping at crosswalks to let pedestrians cross while other cars will swerve around the stopped car or pass the stopped car so that pedestrians will take their time crossing, thus making the driver who stopped his car feel like a schmuck.

* * * * *

If you are a poet and doctor what should be more important to you? Saving patients or engaging with the immediate demands of the muse? Patients, no matter what doctors do, will all die in the end; poems can live for ever.

* * * * *

It's December 16^th and it is getting chilly in Wuxi. That is, what counts as chilly in Wuxi as temperatures are plunging below zero degrees Celsius in the night.

This evening, I won't be going to that party I mentioned. Much as I should go, I just can't summon up the enthusiasm or willingness to go across town on a Saturday night. I could drive but driving around in Wuxi is annoying. I could take the bus but it is not fun to take buses in unfamiliar parts of Wuxi. I could take a Taxi or Didi but that would take away from my monthly cash allowance.

* * * * *

Sunday, December 17^th, Tony & I went to the Hui Ju (Livat Mall) to do some Christmas shopping. The deal was this: He had a budget of 500 RMB and he could buy what he wanted.

The drive from Casa K to the Mall and back is 36 km. The annoying part of the drive is the 80 km/h limited road we take because of the trucks and slow vehicles that require one to always change lanes. This day the road was even more annoying because of a traffic bottleneck being caused by a bridge on the road being rebuilt. I knew about the bottleneck this time because of the drive I did with Jenny on Monday the first, so it was not so bad really.

Tony wanted to spend his money at the Lego store and he bought two Lego City sets. There was a deal for those spending over 500 RMB so Tony also got a calendar and an extra Santa Claus set. Part of the deal of this shopping was that Tony had to wait until Christmas to open the packages till.

* * * * *

Monday December 18^th was a day off for me. In the morning, I drove Tony to school and then, because Jenny was in one of her bad moods, I went to the car wash. I parked the car and waited outside for the workers to come: the place opens at 8:00 AM. I read a book about Europe's immigration problems and poetry by Roy Campbell. Then as I sat in the waiting area, I practiced my Chinese on a Chinese Skills app on my Iphone. Back at Casa K, where Jenny was asleep, I did some cleaning around the house and hung laundry. I did dishes even though I risked Jenny's displeasure by not having cleaned them to whatever her standards are. I then did some German study on the Duolingo App, listened to a James Delingpole Brietbart Podcast and typed this blog entry.

It's now 10:45 AM.

Jenny worked yesterday and told me she was very tired. Really, when she says she is tired, she means she is in a cranky mood. I was tired myself yesterday evening and I was hoping for a quiet evening, but Jenny suddenly exploded at Tony because he didn't do his homework, that I thought had been finished, correctly. When women think screaming is a way to solve problems, they are sadly mistaken. I would feel sorry for Hitler if Jenny was chiding him. Jenny's cackling is absolute torture when you have to listen to it. Jenny of course feels pressure because Tony isn't doing very well at school and she does want Tony to do well, but I can't help but feel she goes about trying to improve Tony in a crazy way. Also, she is wanting Tony to do something for which he isn't capable. Someone is always going to finish last in the race and there is no point in getting so angry that it makes what little life we do have on this Earth torture. And why steal a child's childhood? I try to tell this to Jenny but she has the Chinese woman's mentality and I end up getting criticized for not helping her. Why imitate her methods which only make her miserable? Why should I be miserable too? Because misery is the way to succeed?

I could go on about the Chinese way of educating but I need to organize my thoughts better.

I will offer this solitary thought. The fact that parents are expected to tutor their children two hours every night makes one wonder what is the purpose of sending Children to school for such long hours. The children are in school from 7:20 to 16:00 every day. Aren't the teachers teaching them anything in that time? Maybe, the students should be home-schooled. It would reduce a lot of stress brought on students by the lack of sleep and other factors like bullying. It would stop the insane competition between parents that results in children being forced to be something that they aren't capable of being. Academic accomplishment is not the be and end all of life. Often the people who are good at academics don't do the world a whit of good.

This morning, I thought Jenny had calmed down after her tirade against Tony yesterday but I was the subject of another bout of her screaming because I had washed one of Tony's school jackets. Unbeknownst to me, Jenny had stuck some pouch fill of fine black material in the inside of the jacket. The pouches are supposed to make the jackets warmer. Jenny suddenly thought of these pouches as we were getting Tony ready to go to school and she lead me to the verandah where the jacket was hanging to dry. When she showed the pouch, that she had been worried about me washing and had yet forgot to mention to me about, the pouch opened up and the fine black material leaked everywhere. Of course it was all my fault even though I hadn't been told and had never heard of such things being used to make jackets warmer. And I have been in extreme cold conditions like minus forty.

But as I was saying Jenny was in a cranky mood and I have to make allowances.

* * * * *

December 19^th. Jenny seems to be in a better mood. I am however plagued by the aches and pains of having an old body and rotten teeth.

It seems the K family will be staying home for Christmas. Jenny had this idea to stay at a five star hotel near the Ling Shan Buddha. It would have cost us about 2,000 RMB and we would have gotten a nice room to stay for a night and a couple buffet dinners. I wasn't enthusiastic about the idea having recalled our disappointing experience at the Kempenski a year ago.

* * * * *

December 20^th. Last evening, I learned from a student that fireflies were once in abundance in the countryside of Jiangsu. That is, the countryside near Taixing which Jenny's hometown also happens to be. The student I was talking to also mentioned that there were lots of snakes in the countryside as well. But recently, the numbers of both creatures were in decline. From my experience, I have never seen fireflies around Beixin (Jenny's hometown) but I did once since a snake, in a jar of vinegar, that was used for medicinal purposes.

For what it's worth, the student had heard of Beixin (only the second student I have across to say this of the many I have meet from the area); but she had never gone there.

On the #25 bus today, I was wishing I could take a photo of the passengers that I was sitting across from. Their faces were so Chinese, so countryside, so weathered, so interesting, so seemingly from another era of Chinese history.

I had taken a photo of some of these types sleeping on a sidewalk on their lunch hour which you can see or maybe you might have seen in my AKIC wordpress blog. And interestingly as I sat on the bus, a woman sitting near me had fallen fast asleep in her seat.

I was thinking I was going to be attending the school's Christmas party which was to take place on the 24^th at dinner time. This was after I had been first thinking that I wasn't going to go because it was my birthday. But I then thought that I should go because we didn't have any other plans anyway, till Jenny & Tony told me that they didn't want to go. So I guess I won't be going because it would be strange for me to go to a Christmas party without my wife & son.

I think Tony didn't want to go to the party after he was practically picked on by other kids at the Halloween Party I took him this year.

* * * * *

I saw another pair of shoes discarded in traffic. Now that this phenomenon seems to me to have been proven to be universal, I have to wonder why I haven't seen it happen more often in China. The thing about the strange things that one sees in China is that they happen so often.

* * * * *

It is December 21^st and I am not at all happy because I have been roped into being Santa Claus at the school's Christmas party. I hope the person whose idea this was and the person who agreed to my doing have the worst of Christmases or whatever day is sacred to them. The language I am thinking about them in my head is very crude and un-Christian.

The only solace I can get from this is that Jenny & Tony won't be going to this affair. I don't want Tony to witness my humiliation.

The parties the school throws are always lame because of the sort of people who come and how the parties are organized. All the locals who come to these parties are dead stiffs personality-wise because they all possess those Chinese or Asian traits of social-awkwardness and inscrutability that keep people of their race from being nothing but bores in the eyes of Westerners. The organizers of these parties always think that they have to have a program of entertainment, consisting of amateur performances that are unwatchable, and games that one has to be a simpleton to think are fun. The locals are incapable of mingling it seems. So what will happen at this party is I will see a lot of bored people looking at their smartphones and I will be looking at my watch wondering when it will be acceptable for me to bolt.

I am also not happy because Jenny is insisting that Tony go to school on Christmas Day which is a Monday. So I will have to witness her tiger-mothering Tony on Christmas. And the 26^th which will be the extra day off I get for Christmas, because Christmas falls on my day off this year, will simply mean I get to witness two consecutive evenings of Tony getting tiger-mothered.

I was expecting Christmas 2017 to blow, as the expression goes, and I was in the frame of mind to be happily resigned to it, but I was dealt an unexpected shock to my psyche by this having to be Santa Claus, and so once again, Christmas in the People's Republic of China is full of sourness and bitterness for me. It will probably be the most bitter Christmas ever.

* * * * *

I did a salon class about education on the evening of the 20^th. I asked the students if they thought the students at the public schools got too much homework and they all said yes. When I asked why then there was so much much homework, they told me the teachers and the parents were to blame which was not very helpful as an answer.

After the class with ended at 20:55, I went home. When I arrived, Jenny opened the door for me and I got no greeting while still being able to detect that she was not in a good mood. I then had to listen to her scream at Tony about his homework. Tony finally finished at 22:15. And I had dropped him off at school, earlier in the day, at 07:15....

* * * * *

The believing Christian is always in a better state than the unbeliever. So, it is better to be a believing Christian living in dire poverty, suffering from a painful disease, having no friends and eating nothing but excrement every day than to be an unbeliever who is wealthy, popular, comfortable and free from physical or psychic pain.

* * * * *

December 22^nd, I drove Tony to school and then drove to the supermarket (Tesco) to do grocery shopping that I would normally do on a Sunday since this Sunday is my birthday. The zebra marked pedestrian crossings on the road by the Tesco are monitored by camera so cars have to stop for pedestrians trying to cross there. So I have tried to get in the habit of stopping for pedestrians at these crossings. I have noticed that most local drivers' will swerve their cars around the car stopping for pedestrians, but if they do it at these monitored crosswalks they will get ticketed. So it was with a huge sense of Schadenfreude I saw a white VW mini SUV swerve around me this morning as I stopped to let a pedestrian cross.

The “swerve” is another one of the local driver's peculiar habits. Rather than slowing down and waiting when a turning car slows down in front of them, most local drivers will habitually swerve to avoid the turning car even if it means coming close to a car that is driving beside them or even cutting off that nearby car. This peculiar swerving or changing of direction without regard for others nearby is also exhibited by local cyclists and pedestrians. I have heard many foreigners complain of a local pedestrian suddenly almost running into them because of a seemingly sudden decision to change direction accompanied by a neglect to see where the turn was leading.

Why do the locals have this peculiar habit? Are they short-sighted? Has Communism made them very selfish? Are they, as one foreigner has suggested to me, one step from living a primitive countryside peasant's life and so are lacking in the polish of civilization? Does their way of interacting with others possess a logic that I am too dumb to appreciate?

* * * * *

Do the people of the People's Republic of China even deserve to celebrate Christmas? It is tempting to think: To hell with them!!! They live in an evil regime that is atheistic and materialistic.

* * * * *

One student told me that Christmas was a Western holiday and I told her that the events of the Christmas story actually took place in Asia and Africa.

* * * * *

December 23^rd.

Is it just me? At the Family Mart convenience store near my school, I witnessed an older man buy an ice cream cone for a teenager at 8:40 AM. Isn't this an inappropriate time to be eating ice cream?

Family Mart is a convenience store chain that has taken over that market in Wuxi. It used to be that Kedi was the 7-11 of Wuxi.

I drove to School today. Jenny has taken the weekend off from her gig. She will accompany Tony to his Saturday afternoon drumming class. Afterwards, we will have a buffet dinner on the 64^th floor of the Wuxi Hyatt. (Usually, Tony & I would have dinner at the BMC restaurant which has a very western menu and is at our school.) Then we will drive home. The driving went well enough but I was made glad at having a habit of not driving to school all that often. It is much better to sit on the bus and train listening to podcasts or reading a book on my Ipad.

Because he has a busy schedule this weekend and will be going to school on Christmas day, I gave Tony one of his Christmas presents last night. It was a Lego City Fire Truck which he assembled all by himself and in very quick time. His doing this impressed me to no end.

* * * * *

December 24^th. My birthday. I was born in '64. I leave it to my rare readers to do the math. And when you have, I would appreciate getting an email (andiskaulins@qq.com) telling me how old I am.

December 23^rd, after work, I meet up with Jenny & Tony at Sunning Plaza. We went to the 64^th floor buffet I just mentioned. The eating was alright but nothing to blog to my rare readers about, and it wasn't very Christmasy. The K family then went home.

December 24^th, I slept till 9:00 AM. I hadn't sleep so late since the Summer.

I would have been content to have spent my birthday at home, but I had the school Christmas party to go. Wrench thrown into my day, I stayed home until 2:00 PM. Jenny & Tony went to some amusement place at Lihu Lake. I went to the BMC where I had some beer and meet up with my colleague Eric. Eric made the BMC staff aware of my birthday and so I got a brownie with ice cream on the house.

The party was okay but most of its attendees were kiddies. I dressed up like Santa, but without a beard, and gave them candies.

The highlight of the day was reading David Warren's blog entry. He said his favorite “modern” Christmas song was Fairytale of New York as performed by the Pogues. Though the song is Punkish, Warren said it had a Catholic sensibility about it.

* * * * *

Christmas Day.

I was up early to drive Tony to school.

I witness a car, being driven in the bicycle lane, honking at a cyclist to get out of the way. This sums up the amount of Christmas spirit there actually is in the damnable People's Republic.

I haven't seen any caroling.

The weather sunny. No snow.

I tweeted out Merry Christmas in what I hope was the proper Latvian and in Mandarin Chinese simplified characters.

I took a video of what was happening outside my window on Christmas morning and posted it on Youtube. (The video has been posted to this blog.)

To mark the Christ part of Christmas, I have been reading a book by Joseph Ratzinger and the Christmas volumes of the Liturgical Year Book set written by Abbot Prosper Gueranger.

* * * * *

An App made a notification on my Ipad asking what my dream car was.

I don't have a dream car, but I do have dream traffic in which all people who have dream cars are in the ditch.

* * * * *

I heard that the un (the UN but I prefer to lowercase it) general assembly held a minute of silence when the previous leader of North Korea died. WTF is wrong with the world?!?

Latvia and Canada, sadly, didn't vote against the resolution condemning the Americans for saying they were going to move their embassy to Jerusalem. They abstained which was cowardly, but I suppose better than voting against the USA.

* * * * *

The people who run the Great Firewall must be looking at the censorship that Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are currently practicing and saying “See! What we are doing is very necessary!”

* * * * *

December 26^th. It's a day off for me but not for Tony. But I had to get up at 5:50 AM so I could make him some breakfast and drive him to work.

Yesterday at my bedtime, I phoned my Mom and Brother Ron in Brandon, Manitoba and woke her up on what was Christmas morning for them. The temperature in Brandon, Mom told me, was minus thirty degrees Celsius. I told her that it was above zero in Wuxi, but felt like minus thirty thanks to the pollution.

I chatted with my Mom about nothing in particular before I could talk to my brother who was still asleep when I called. I first thought I was going to have to phone later but Ron got up. I got to tell him how I would like to have Tony go to Canada after finishing primary school in China and possibly live with him. Ron, I could tell, thought it was a crazy idea but I told him that this was something I was thinking of and it was still two years down the line.

* * * * *

If I would take Tony back, I would have to find a job in Canada or find some way to make money. Big problem at my age and with my skill.

* * * * *

When I am not reading or watching downloaded video on my computer or learning languages, I am listening to podcasts. These days, I like listening most to the Andrew Klavan podcast, the Michael Knowles podcast, the Radio Derb Podcast, Mother Angelica Classics podcast and Learn French Podcasts. The Klavan and Knowles podcasts are political and originate from the Daily Wire site which also features the Ben Shapiro podcast (which I give a listen to as well but not as often.) All the Daily Wire podcasts are about politics and culture. I also listen, though not to all the episodes, of the Patrick Coffin Show, Political Beats and the Federalist podcasts. With so many podcasts out there, it is almost a chore to keep up with all of them.

The Delingpole podcast which I just discovered is an addictive listen because most of the guests are staunchly conservative/reactionary and have the confidence of battle-worn and veteran political warriors. The podcast is like therapy for me because I haven't meet a fellow reactionary in person in a long time.

* * * * *

Dec 27^th. What do I have to report today? Not much. My big concern at the moment is to get my count of books read in 2017 to 90. I am at 86 now. I will try today to finish a play by Shakespeare (Macbeth) and another book of poetry by Coventry Patmore to get my number up to 88. The 89^th book I hope to finish by the 31^st will be The Joke by Milan Kundera (I heard Marc Steyn make mention of it). The 90^th will be my Don Colacho's Aphorisms. A book I have faithfully read a page of every day this year.

I make trying to make plans for New Year's but I don't plan on being upset if I just end up staying home.

* * * * *

Convergence. An idea I have been floating around in my head after having heard mention of it on Radio Derb. China has adopted a system of totalitarian capitalism. The West is shedding its classical liberal tendencies with corporations pushing a short of totalitarianism. This is the basic statement of the theory as I understand it, and I can help but agree with it.

* * * * *

I was so engrossed in a book I was reading on my Ipad while on the train that Eric, who boarded the train with his family and sat near me, had to scream to get my attention. The book I was reading was Basic Christianity by Joseph Ratzinger. It was nice for me to see myself so concentrated on something. I have a mind that jumps from here to there, and I never seem to live in the moment.

* * * * *

I should think of some funny things to say as I make entries in this blog. “Funny is Money” the saying goes. Which means that that is what I must do to attracts eyeballs. So, a funny thing happened on the way to work...

* * * * *

Tony asked me if I knew about George Washington. I said I did. Tony then told me about how Washington participated in an attack on the English in 1777 and then asked me why the Americans and the British had a war. Stuff like that is what makes being a parent great and what makes me loathe the Chinese system of Education so much. Tony asked this question on his own initiative pursuing interests in his own time.

* * * * *

My VPN has been working excellently recently. Which makes me worry. I wonder if the Chicoms are getting ready to put the hammer down on them in the next few months.

I noticed a new thing I had to do when I uploaded a video from Youku which I had downloaded from Youtube. I now have to move a slider as the final step before getting my video processed and uploaded on Youku. Yesterday, I had to submit the video many times before it finally uploaded.

I am curious about what I can upload to Youku. I tried and did succeed in uploading videos of a religious nature to Youku.

* * * * *

December 28^th. I did a set of 35 push-ups this morning. This is not bad for a guy getting on in age as me and who stopped be a fitness freak in his early thirties.

I also sent off my passport renewal application to the Canadian Consulate in Shanghai and ticked the box for the ten year passport.

Did I mention that there now is a Subway Sandwich restaurant at Sanyang Plaza? Another eating option for when I am at work. Yesterday, I ordered the following: Italian Salami, Bacon, Cheese heated on twelves inches of Wheat Bread, with Tomatoes, Pickles, Jalapeno peppers and BBQ sauce added afterwards.

* * * * *

December 29^th.

Last evening, I was on Twitter and I came across a tweet with a meme of a person – could have been a male dressed as female – named Andi proclaiming to the world that they wanted to be referred to with the pronoun “they.” (Which you can notice that I have used.) I made a comment on the tweet stating how I was confused about what pronoun I should use. I wondered if I should in fact be more entitled to the pronoun “they” because unlike Andi, my name had an “s” at the end and could be argued to be a plural form of Andi: or if Andi was correctly “they” then if maybe I should be referred to with “theys.”

All rather silly. And I real think the gay character on the TV series Search Party is very amusing. (One thing about the show is that there aren't any children in it.)

* * * * *

I am thinking I come across as a big bore to the students. I don't know what I can do to change this, because I always go to these classes with this insane, against all experience, hope that somehow the students can become interesting to me. They all seem to not be willing to milk a subject for all the conversation it is worth. It could be because they don't have the English ability to do such things, and yet I have heard that in other countries, ESL students can take the bait of a simple question and talk and talk and talk....

* * * * *

The students, if anything, are into Scientism. They honestly think that Science can tell us how we ought to be. Science can only tell us what is and we have to have a faith to believe that what is won't change because of a quirk in the universe that we have way of anticipating.

* * * * *

December 30^th. Last night, Jenny tells me that Tony has swimming lessons on Saturday and Sunday. Today is Saturday, the 30^th, which means that I will be taking Tony to his swimming lesson on New Year's Eve! So there is the end of my speculating about my possibly going somewhere that night.

Tony's swim lessons are from 18:30 to 19:30 and though that would in theory not preclude an interruption to my New Year's Eve plans, it in fact does because we would leave the swim place at around 20:00 which would mean that I would arrive somewhere at 21:00 which though being not even close to being fashionably late, would be late for me because I like to leave parties at an unfashionably early time of 22:00. So. At least I will be able to read for a whole hour.

* * * * *

“You shouldn't forgot to listen to the teacher in class.” was a sentence that a student made during a grammar exercise in one of my classes. “You might as well say “You should listen to the teacher in class.”” I told the student. Now the sentence wasn't grammatically wrong but it was a damn awkward way of saying something. The exercise we were doing required the student to make a sentence with “shouldn't forget.” and the student came up with a sentence that I wouldn't have thought of in a million year. I was expecting something along the lines of “You shouldn't forget to turn off the lights when you leave the house.”

* * * * *

December 31^st. New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve is terrible if you dare to actually celebrate it in the traditional manner. And as it has been pointed out from people who are much smarter than me, New Year's is not worth the trouble because it is merely about changing yearly calendars on an arbitrary date. It deserves to pale in comparison to the 25^th December which celebrates something that is vitally important and stupendously glorious.

December 31^st is better thought of as the Feast Day of Saint Confessor, and the Seventh day of Christmas.

Saying this, I am thus very comfortable with having Tony do a swimming class this evening, to which I will drive him – he swims, I read – after which we will have some pizza and be in bed by 11:00 PM.

Merry Christmas!!!

* * * * *

Comments, questions, protests, insults and put-downs can be emailed to andiskaulins@hotmail.com.