Pronounced: g?ng k�
Means: school work, class work

We just turned in a paper where we were supposed to explain selected aspects of Chinese worldview and culture and their implications for Westerners who want to live within Chinese culture, in 15 pages. But at 1am, I had 30 pages. Something had to give.

So I started clear-cutting. Whole paragraphs, nay, whole sections, sub-headers and all, 13 pages worth, representing untold hours of my recently-overly-caffeinated life, ripped out and discarded like so much pumpkin guts at a jack-o-lantern carving. It’s a feeling similar to what you get after watching TV: I want those hours of my life back! Every time I highlighted paragraphs and pressed delete… Aa! my life! it’s gone!

It’s not my fault cultural subsystems are interrelated. It just feels wrong to talk about one without talking about the others.

Of course, it’s not the first time we’ve done this, and although we only have a few papers left to go, I doubt it will be the last time. But this paper is unique. Instead of turning it in to an American university professor for grading, our practicum on-site supervisor is grading it, and he’s Chinese. We’re writing a paper that’s (supposedly) about his culture. We know we don’t know what we’re talking about, but we still have to write like we do. I hope it’s entertaining for him, anyway.

If you don’t already know how your income compares globally, you can find out. From the Global Rich List:

We are obsessed with wealth. But we gauge how rich we are by looking upwards at those who have more than us. This makes us feel poor.

We wanted to do something which would help people understand, in real terms, where they stand globally. And make us realise that in fact most of us (who are able to view this web page) are in the privileged minority.

Our current individual incomes place us in the top 11% of the world. Combined, we’re in the top 2%. Click here to compare yours.

Some might object, saying this doesn’t factor in local buying power. Perhaps, but given the degree of global economic disparity, does it really matter that $50k/year goes farther in Uganda than it does in the OC? Just think of all the matoke you could buy with that!

We will have some tough choices to make in the future regarding what we define as an “appropriate” living standard, especially in a country with increasing economy disparity. We’ll face choices we haven’t yet, I wonder how we’ll respond, what factors will weigh the most. Or if we’ll just get squeezed into the same mold as most Western foreigners living outside the West – living in luxury and affluence relative to the average Zhou. We have ideals, of course. But I expect they’ll be tested more than once.

There are a zillion factors to consider. It’s so complicated if you stop to think about it, though I have this nagging suspicion that it shouldn’t be.