Andis Kaulins in China: June 2025

I’m getting old. I have to do things gingerly when I carry things. I have to resist the urge to move the heavy stuff myself. My son Tony who is with me will have to do it.

Saturday, June 14, 2025

2:05 PM Sunday

Here’s the most recent view photo.

Oilers lost. Sad.

Here’s the most recent quote video.

The Minnesota shooter looks to be or have been, a left wing nutcase. I use the term “left wing” even though it’s not a precise term, but does exclude a lot of other suspects.

NGD: Politics is the past time of empty souls.

8:28 AM Sunday: what’s happening below.

Some construction activity is taking place below our 27th floor apartment here in Wuxi. I have speculated in this blog about what the end product of the activity will be. My wife tells me that they are building a tunnel. However what this tunnel will be is still a mystery to me. Will the tunnel be for a subway? A freeway?

7:02 AM Sunday: lots of stuff happening

This morning’s view photo.

Israel Iran War: something I didn’t want to see.

Minnesota lawmakers shot. Don’t know what to make of it.

No Kings protest. Really, it just means Orange Man Bad! And there are things to be said for monarchies.

Trump military parade. China does a big one every year. Why can’t America?

6:39 PM Saturday; WJ to JJ to WJ

I took Mom* to work.

Tony & I drove to Apt JJ to move some stuff to WJ.

Before going back to WJ, Tony & I checked out the JJ stadium. We were able to get to where Tony will be seating tomorrow for a JSL game between WJ and CJ. I took lots of photos. Expect a substack.

We drove back. Local drivers annoyed me

We moved stuff to our Jia Zhou apartment.

I dropped off T at our current WJ Apt. I went to Hot Maxx to buy cheap beer. Also bought spicy lobster chips.

A first! A three view substack!

*By mom, I mean my wife. My Dad did that as well.

Friday, June 13, 2025

7:45 AM Saturday: Numbers

It’s sunny outside. Check it out!

Extended my Duolingo streak, learning 中文，français & español to 1966 days or jours or 天 or días.

I have 300 followers on my wuxiandis WeChat channel. Yesterday, the channel got 3,200 views. I had 330 followers on my other channel till it got shadow banned.

If this blog’s dashboard is be believed, I have had 899.365 all time views. I find it hard to believe. My Substack site to which I constantly link, and to which I have been uploading my view photos, has had only 761 all time views. That probably reflects the true amount of traffic to this blog.

My YouTube channel has had 2,759,038 all time views. The view numbers have been good recently because YouTube shorts get lots of views.

My My Anti Blog has had nearly 29,000 all time views. In this blog, I post gifs, memes, silly images, silly thoughts, rebellious thoughts and other sorts of nonsense and ranting. Right now, I can only do text with it. I can’t upload the visual stuff like Sid Vicious Gifs.

Finally, a substack whose link I have been sending to all my colleagues. It about how A.I. will destroy education, especially secondary education as we know it. The article raises the hope that A.I. will destroy the accreditation function of Academia which then hopefully would lead to education experiences where the teachers are with students discussing great ideas, the teachers are only with students who care (no apes, dipshits and bimbos) and there is no formal grading and tests — the kind of classes I wanted to do at my last school. Maybe one or two of the students I had would have gone for that.

8:01 PM Friday

I just listened to James Delingpole on the Coffee and a Mike podcast. JD is a conspiracy theorist to the nth degree, as the saying goes, and his questioning of everything and seeing a conspiracy behind everything can be too much. And so I kind of shied away from him after being a solid follower for a while. So, listening to the podcast was like being reacquainted with an old acquaintance. Some of his conspiracies sound agreeable, and he is a Christian. The latter is my way of distancing myself from following the travails of politics and it’s mostly puerile inaneness. It is nice to think that things like climate change and dinosaurs are stories told by the powers that be to manipulate us, just like the political issues that come and go.

Thursday, June 12, 2025

12:02 PM Friday: Game Four Comeback!

I will say it out front: when the score was 3-0 for tbe Panthers, I thought it was the end of the Oilers Stanley Cup dream. I’m am ecstatic that I was wrong. The Oilers coming back to win the game 5-4 in OT changes everything.

10:53 Friday AM: War?

According to Nicolás Gómez Davila:

Man matures when he stops believing that politics
will solve his problems.

Politics is the pastime of empty souls.

With these aphorisms in mind, why should I care about potential war in the Middle East, and potential civil war in the USA?

I could say for either: Not my circus, not my monkeys; and worry about my son and our souls. But I can’t help myself and I want to watch the events and opine on them.

So basically, I don’t want the USA to get involved in the Middle East. I want Trump to prevail over the forces aligned against him.

It would be nice if I could go to Canada and enjoy a splendid isolation. It doesn’t seem that discussing politics while there will be productive.

It would be nice to live in a place where the likes of a Carney or a Trump or a Putin or a Xi or a Zelensky whatever damn fool in the Middle East don’t affect my life in the least.

10:11 AM Friday: Link

Latest Substack

The dashboard for this blog says I get 10 to 20 visits for each blog entry. So why is it when I post a link to my substack, I get one view? That is, according to the Substack dashboard. So, what the dashboards for these blogs are telling me is that ten people look at the entry and only one bothers to click the link to the substack. Fishy.

9:04 Friday AM; Game Four

The score: Panthers 3; Oilers 0. It is not looking good for the Oilers Stanley Cup hopes

L.A. Riots and Protests. Other protests against Trump. What point are they trying to make exactly? Orange Man Bad and …?

Coffee maker making coffee.

Got to look forward. What’s done is done. It sucks to be impotent when dealing with evil

6:56 AM Friday

I’m at the WJ apartment

No big plans today. It is raining.

8:35 PM Thursday: Two Substacks

Yes. Two Substack Links tonight:

1) Tonight’s View Photo and accompanying anecdote.

2) Final photos taken during my final time at the Jiangyin campus.

and

3) A video link.

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

2:18 PM Thursday: Noel’s & Wolle’s

I am in WJ. Here’s how I got here.

I went to my now former colleague Noel’s apartment for breakfast.

I then went to have lunch with another now former colleague Joseph at Wolle’s German Restaurant

From W I took the Didi to the JTS to catch the S1 to WJ.

6:30 AM Thursday: 1964

I extended my Duolingo streak to 1964 days.

1964 seems a milestone number to me on account of it being the day I was born.

5:21 AM Thursday

Still can’t upload photos.

7:56 PM Wednesday: The Last Time

This afternoon, some stuff got moved out of the JJ apartment. A lot of it is going to Canada: it was picked up by a delivery company. Some of it was moved to other apartments in China: given away or sold second hand.

Here’s the standard view photo.

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

9:20 AM Wednesday: Maybe the last time.

I went to school, hoping and intending it to be the last time. I may go back to take some more photos of me by my classroom. Just my goddamn luck that some grade 12s had to be hanging out by it. I wondered wtf they were doing there — the last CIE exam. I ignored them. A grand moment ruined.

Here is the view photo.

5:48 AM Wednesday: The last time.

Quickly checked and I can’t upload photos.

Plan: go to school for the last time. Check my classroom. Wander the campus. Take some photos. Say bye to some.

7:31 PM Tuesday

I still can’t upload photos to this blog! Fuck!

Spent the afternoon at the JJ apartment. I had to organize my clothes because they are going to be shipped off to Canada.

I got a message saying there was no need for me to go to the school staff meeting tomorrow morning. I had to confirm with another colleague, who was leaving, that he got a similar message. He said he did. My first reaction was to take it as a “fuck you one more time!” message. I was going to use the meeting as an opportunity to say good bye to some colleagues, but that won’t happen now.

Tony & I went to the Monte Carlo Bistro for the last time. I was feeling sad and depressed and at times bitter as I contemplated the end of my time at NJHS.

I will go to the campus to check my classroom for the last time. I might walk around the campus. I’ll take photos for my Substack.

Here are photos I took this evening.

Monday, June 9, 2025

Let’s see if I can upload photos..

No.

12:43 AM Tuesday: JJ Apt

I’m back at the JJ apartment.

I went to school thinking that I would have to go to a student closing ceremony. I didn’t, it turned out, so I waited in the closet of my classroom for my son Tony, who attended the ceremony, so we could go home together.

As I waited, I mulled over the three years I spent at the school, and then the years before that. The years I spent at the International schools were a failure for me, I reflected. Was it my shortcomings as a teacher, was it the students and their culture, or was it the system I was stuck in that made my final years of teaching a bitter experience? I honestly can’t say conclusively. It would be easy to just say it was me, but the students were very shy and I couldn’t get the interaction I needed. As well students exhibited behavior in class that I had never seen in my years as a student. They slept in all the teachers’ classes. I didn’t care about that so much because it beat having to tell them to STFU, but I had to put my feet down when they brought pillows to class. The system doesn’t fail students who deserved to be and so I had nothing to back up my authority as a teacher. When students got a well-deserved screaming at from me, I got taken into the office…. Any who, I am sure I went to the last school with fine intentions.

Tony sat through a ceremony filled with gaseous speeches. When he came back, I asked him if he said good bye to anyone. He said he didn’t. I did say bye to a grade 10 student. I had him in one class but I always was friendly to him, so I made a point of saying good bye to him. He was the only student to whom I did say bye.

9:43 AM Tuesday: I’m at the school

Second last day. There is a closing ceremony for the AS or grade 11 students. My son is there; it turns out I don’t have to be. I asked my son if he would miss the school and then I asked him if he would miss his classmates. To both questions, he said “no!”.

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss my feelings about this place and the students and my colleagues.

6:19 AM Tuesday：milestones

I still can’t upload photos. So, you’ll have to go here.

Two milestones to report:

—If the stats blogger provides me are to be believed, this blog has had over 888,888 page views. I don’t believe.

—I extended my Duolingo streak to 1962 days.

5:24 AM Tuesday

It’s humid here in Jiangyin. I could have turned on the a/c to have dealt with it as I slept, but I choose instead to open the bedroom window. The result is that I have been woken by the rain.

I’ll go upstairs later to take a view photo. First, I will have my morning poo, though.

7:43 PM Monday

Still can’t upload photos here.

So you can go here, in order to see tonight’s view photo, and find what treading I’ve just done.

3:17 PM Monday

I gone wind of riots and protests in Los Angeles from WeChat. I had to go to Rumble to get a North American perspective. Viva Frei says that Dem types are claiming the protests are peaceful and President Trump is out of line in wanting to call in the National Guard. WeChat gives the impression that there is chaos in LA.

No photo taken. Can’t upload.

Sunday, June 8, 2025

1:34 PM Monday

My son Tony is writing an economics exam as I blog

I’ve sold a folding chair. I’m working on shipping out some books.

My wife is concerned about my health.

Here is the latest view photo

7:31 AM Monday

Starting my morning with a voice recording

6:52 AM Monday: 1961

Extended my Duolingo streak to 1961 days. I’ll admit that I use A.I. to help me answer some of the difficult questions so that I don’t lose my hearts.

Are the Oil Barons playing this morning?

Let me check the NHL app….

It appears not.

5:35 AM Monday: Gratitude

I suppose I should be thankful to the big guy as soon as I awake. I’m not dead or something. I can still walk about.

Any who. You’ll have to go to my Substack.

8:53 PM Sunday: JJ

It is really frigging annoying that I can’t upload photos.

Any who! We just drove back to JJ from WJ!

Tomorrow, last exam for Tony.

You can see the photos I took here.

3:06 PM Sunday

I went to the IKEA Mall with my colleague Noel. It will be the second last time I see him.

Here are the photos

Saturday, June 7, 2025

6:25 AM Sunday

Didn’t sleep well last night.

Listened to the last Radio Derb Podcast ever yesterday.

It’s still raining.

6:30 PM Saturday: Fog

Can I upload a photo now?

No.

What am I doing?

Listening to Radio Detb.

Can I show you the fog?

Yes!

4:21 PM Saturday

Let’s see if I can upload the standard view photo I just took…

No!

Was I correct in my hunch that the Panthers would win Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final?….

Sadly yes!

Did I upload the standard view photo to my Substack?

You betcha!

Friday, June 6, 2025

11:44 AM Saturday: OT

Game two of the Stanley Cup final is in overtime. If my depended on it, I would predict a Panthers victory over the Oilers. I pray I’m wrong.

9:43 AM Saturday

It’s raining.

Don’t let the weather get you down. Have golden sunshine in your heart.

I can’t upload photos to this blog.

Don’t let the hopefully temporary inability of that function get you down. Upload the photo to Substack instead

6:35 AM Saturday

It’s rainy this morning. My phone didn’t charge overnight.

I can’t upload photos

7:23 PM Friday: Wuxi

Tony & I took the subway to the Hui Ju aka Huai Jew aka Livat aka Wuxi IKEA Mall. We then took a Didi aka Duedue to the Citroen shop to pick up our car. The scratch that the car got, on account of the Tesla in Jiangyin, was repaired. We then drove back to the Mall for supper and then we drove here. Along the way, a Tesla had gotten into an accident.

Still can’t upload photos to blogger. So, you gots to go here.

Thursday, June 5, 2025

1:53 PM Friday: Wuxi Apartment

Now at the Wuxi apartment after a Didi, a Metro and a perambulation.

Still can’t upload photos here. So there!

12:02 PM Friday View

Still in Jiangyin.

Still can’t upload photos.

Musk & Trump have gone nuclear apparently. Sad. I suppose it was foreseeable that these two powerful men, neither of whom holds back, should clash. And it doesn’t look like they can reconcile.

9:32 AM Friday: Boycott

Again. I can’t upload photos. If I was able to, you’d see I was at the JJ apartment.

This morning I went to school, signed some documents at 9:00 and then snuck out and came back here. I saw the school gate set elaborately for the gaokaos as I went to the office to sign termination of contract paperwork. Looking at the language of the document very much dampened my spirits. There was this fun activity, from 10:00 to 11:00, with students that I was wavering as to whether to attend. I would have watched, but the paperwork signing and wandering around and seeing the students strengthen my resolve to go home and boycott the activity

5:18 AM Friday

Blogger still won’t let me upload photos. So, you will have to go here.

9:04 PM Thursday View

Rare readers. Go here.

Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused anyone.

My latest quote video

My latest Substack video

My latest Rumble video

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

2:28 PM Thursday: JJ!

I am back in JJ!

While in WJ, I heard the Oilers won game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. I didn’t realize the game was on till my cousin in Canada reminded me. And when I turned on the NHL app, the game was in OT. Five minutes, the score updated!!

Any who. Here are the photos I currently can’t upload here.

10:29 AM Thursday: WJ!!!

I’m in Wuxi now.

I took a lot of photos as I got here.

8:21 AM Thursday

Please go here.

4:38 AM Thursday

Go here to see the standard view photo

Blogger’s upload photo feature still isn’t wirking.

Here is the latest NGD quote video.

8:37 PM Wednesday View

Here we can’t go again!

Since, I can’t upload the standard view photo, go here.

3:17 PM Wednesday View: Go to SS

Can’t upload photos so you’ll have to go here.

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

9:36 AM Wednesday View: Mid Morning

I can’t upload photos now. You can see them here.

4:47 AM Wednesday View: The last class?

Up and at ‘em! My last class this morning! Then invigilation.

8:37 PM Tuesday View: Good Night!

I have classes tomorrow but I’ll have them self study. I never want to see these kids again.

Here is my latest NGD Quote Video:

This video deserves more views:

I saw this in the afternoon:

I want to sell this:

3:25 PM Tuesday View: Photo/Video Extravagance

I didn’t go back to school to take panoramic photos. I instead walked in an opposite direction and was able to take these panoramic shots:

I also took video:

Monday, June 2, 2025

10:50 AM Tuesday View: Possible Patron Saints

I took this standard view photo using my cellphone stabilizer stick.

I did go to school to sell some books and offload stuff. I then tried to take a panoramic photo on the school grounds with the stick. The selfie stick had a nice 3x3 grid manner of taking panoramas, but it didn’t work. The app said it was in pan mode, while a wheel was spinning and spinning. So, I gave up. I walked home and took a panoramic shot inside very easily. Should I go back to school this afternoon to try again?

I asked A.I. to help me find a patron saint. I first got it to ask me questions to help in this pursuit. It did so, I answered the questions, submitted my answers and I got this list:

1. **St. Andrew the Apostle (Feast Day: November 30)**

- **Connection to your name:** Your name, Andis, is likely a variation of Andrew, making St. Andrew a natural fit. He was one of the first disciples of Jesus, known for his humility and missionary work.

- **Connection to your life:** As a fisherman who left everything to follow Christ, St. Andrew embodies a life of simplicity and detachment, resonating with your self-described solitary and reactionary nature. His missionary journeys, including to regions like modern-day Russia and Eastern Europe (potentially near Latvia), align with your Latvian heritage and travels between cultures (China to Canada).

- **Why he fits:** St. Andrew’s quiet, steadfast faith and willingness to embrace a life apart from societal norms mirror your admiration for outcasts and independent thinkers. His feast day is close to your birthday, strengthening the connection.

2. **St. John of the Cross (Feast Day: December 14)**

- **Connection to poetry and struggles:** St. John of the Cross, a 16th-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite priest, is renowned for his profound spiritual poetry, such as *The Dark Night of the Soul*, which explores spiritual desolation and depression. His writings resonate with your love for poetry and your experience with depression.

- **Connection to your life:** As a solitary figure who faced persecution from within his own religious community for his reformist (and somewhat reactionary) views, he aligns with your admiration for outcasts and contrarian thinkers like David Warren. His physical ailments and ascetic lifestyle may also connect to your health challenges.

- **Why he fits:** His feast day is near your birthday (December 24), and his introspective, poetic approach to faith suits your reflective and solitary nature. His emphasis on finding God in suffering could offer spiritual support for your struggles.

3. **St. Dorothy Day (Not Yet Canonized, but a Servant of God)**

- **Connection to writing and outcasts:** Dorothy Day, a 20th-century American journalist, writer, and Catholic convert, co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement, advocating for the poor and marginalized. Her autobiographical works, like *The Long Loneliness*, reflect her blogging-like style of sharing personal and social reflections. She was a radical who lived on society’s margins, aligning with your admiration for reactionary thinkers and outcasts.

- **Connection to your life:** Day’s commitment to social justice and her conversion from a secular, bohemian life to Catholicism mirror your expressed interest in becoming Catholic (from your blog). Her struggles with despair and her non-conformist stance resonate with your solitary and depressive experiences. Her work with the poor in urban settings could connect to your time in China and your upcoming transition to Canada.

- **Why she fits:** While not officially a saint, her cause for canonization is advancing, and her life as a writer and advocate for the marginalized makes her a compelling modern patron for someone with your interests and challenges.

4. **St. Francis de Sales (Feast Day: January 24)**

- **Connection to writing and teaching:** St. Francis de Sales, a 16th-century bishop, is the patron saint of writers, journalists, and educators due to his prolific writings, including *Introduction to the Devout Life*. His clear, accessible style suits your blogging and vlogging activities.

- **Connection to your life:** His gentle approach to teaching and evangelizing, even in hostile environments, aligns with your role as an English teacher in China. His emphasis on finding holiness in everyday life could resonate with your solitary and reflective nature. He also faced periods of spiritual darkness, connecting to your experience with depression.

- **Why he fits:** His feast day is close to your birthday, and his patronage of writers makes him a strong match for your creative pursuits. His calm, countercultural faith aligns with your admiration for reactionary thinkers.

5. **St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Feast Day: October 1)**

- **Connection to simplicity and suffering:** Known as the “Little Flower,” St. Thérèse embraced a “little way” of small acts of love, which suits your solitary and humble lifestyle. She suffered from tuberculosis and emotional hardships, offering a parallel to your health struggles and depression.

- **Connection to your life:** Her introspective spirituality and focus on hidden, quiet faith resonate with your loner tendencies and admiration for those who live apart from mainstream society. Her writings, like *Story of a Soul*, have a poetic quality that may appeal to your love for poetry.

- **Why she fits:** Her ability to find meaning in suffering and her simple, non-conformist approach to faith make her a fitting patron for someone navigating personal challenges and societal transitions.

A good list. I like #2 and #4 because I have read them this year.