Shekou Morning Coming Down.

When I woke up Sunday morning, was no way to hold my head that didn't hurt,
And the Bailey's I had for Breakfast wasn't bad, so I had 5 more for dessert.
Then I headed down to Shekou, though all I wished was to be sleeping, and inert,
But I ate some Hot Pot, talked to friends, and sweated out the booze from yesterday.

Out in Shekou I saw lots of sights that might seem strange to some, but not to me,
Like the beggars lying on the road, being ignored by all though everyone could see,
And the rich men drinking Tsing Tao, as they thought about their oil companies.
And the expats and the locals and the garbage and the bougainvillea trees.

It's a Sunday down in Shekou, wishin' Lord that I was home,
Cuz there's something about Shekou, makes a body feel alone.
Is it the greed or just the weather or thoughts my mind just can't surmount?
On this grimy Shekou sidewalk, Sunday morning, coming down.

-With apologies to Kris, where ever he is.

Shekou is a neighbourhood of Nanshan District, in Shenzhen. It is where I
ran the Irish Pub, and is traditionally an Expat Ghetto.

To start, no, I'm not really "wishin' Lord that I was home", but it rhymes with making "a body feel alone" and it fits thematically.

I have a minor obsession with Shekou, and it's one I've never probably fully explained to most people. I'm not even sure that I can, but let's give it the old college T-R-I.

If you know me well, you know I appreciate contrast. I love characters in movies that are outwardly one way, and inwardly another. I love foods that pair-off flavours that are traditionally seen as opposites. I like images that highlight poor and rich, harsh and soft, good and evil. Shekou is all of those contrasts and more. It's the Chinese flag, symbolic of the worker's movement, contrasted against all-out capitalism. It's the Oil Executive with his expense account, and the beggar with his bowl. It's the beggars with legitimate disabilities, and those being used by the Triads to make money. It's the flashy shops selling Louis Vuitton next to the push carts selling oranges. It's the smell of jasmine, and the smell of rubbish. It's a place crowded with thousands of people, but so, so many of them are alone.

I should make it clear, I don't love Shekou, I'm just taken in by it. Somedays I like it. Somedays it disgusts me.

Like or disgust, I spent Saturday night there. I went to Teppenyaki with two of the teachers from the school, Jenny Jiang and Petra Kalverboer. After 3 hours of sushi, sake and soba I headed to meet up with friends from my past life. I'll avoid the gruesome details, but my night ended Sunday morning. At 4am I decided I'd consumed and danced enough and went home.

Surprisingly, I was awake at 7am and up for the day, rough though it may have been.

Class time begins today. I'll spend this week observing my classes, and helping out the teachers that have been covering my classes. Much to my surprise and delight, I'm not teaching any ESL classes. I'm doing Social Studies for two grade levels, and Environmental Science. Life is good, indeed.

With that, duty calls.