A Ricktatorship

The first week back in Yantai was fairly uneventful. All luggage made it back to China, I was legally allowed to enter the country once again, school started with myself much more organized than in the previous semester and I'm still living out of my unpacked suitcase even after a week here.
I've restarted this blog in hopes my posts may actually be saved and somewhat more organized than on the previous blog.  I kept it up fairly regularly until the beginning of November only to discover the website had deleted almost half of my posts.  This event greatly impacted my want and motivation to continue blogging.
Anyways, aside from all that, I really do want to start up writing again on this forum.  Therefore I can write only what is on my mind.
Many times in China there are problems.  We fondly like to say, "Welcome. This is China. Where nothing can just be easy."  This includes everything from being unable to find COTTON BALLS at the local store to having to visit 3 places and have 5 days pass before I could get internet restarted in my apartment.  However, now having lived abroad nearly 6 months I have come to the realizations these things could happen anywhere; not just in China.  Maybe not the cotton balls things but problems in general.  My colleagues and I have to constantly question ourselves on whether the current unpleasant situation is a 'China' problem or a 'anywhere' problem.  Those that live abroad may know what I will say next.  So many times when we experience something unpleasant while traveling overseas we tend to like to blame the country in which we are present for ALL of our problems.

• No one can understand me when I speak. I hate this country.
• My work is so frustrating. I hate this country.
• I literally almost got hit by that guy on a moto. I hate this country.
• The bananas are too ripe to eat. I hate this country
• It's too cold to get out and do anything. I hate this country.
• I'm sick and have to lay in bed all.  It wouldn't be like this if I had cleaner air. I hate this country
• ...and so on and so forth

Hate may be a bit of a strong word in this context but trust me, it crosses every foreigner living abroad's mind at least once.  Honestly, I can solve all the above problems.

• I have many Chinese friends to call and help me plus I even speak enough Chinese and am an expert in pointing and grunting to get my point across.
• Work can be frustrating anywhere. Preparation, preparation, preparation.
• Look both ways before crossing the street
• There are numerous other fruits to choose from in this particular market.
• I own a warm coat, scarf, boots, hat, and gloves.  Getting off my rear and stop watching The Walking Dead or Modern Family may help that fact.
• There is a pharmacy about 50 steps from my front door and once again Chinese friends to call and help or simply pantomiming my symptoms works wonders.

All this being said, I apologize for my probably atrocious grammar and sentence structure in this post.  I promise they will get better.  These are just ideas that were swirling around that needed to get put down before I went to bed to have nightmares about Weeping Angels or Zombies or Weeping Angel Zombies.

Peace, Love, and Cupcakes,   <-----Good Lord, I should go to bed as I've no idea where that came from.

Mees Macklue