Every week they spend Friday doing art instead of working. This week they were colouring in mandalas. At the end of each session the art teacher reviews each piece and tells the creator what is in their heart based on how they’ve drawn or coloured their piece. After this they did a sort of tarot card thing where each person picked a card which has an attribute on it like focused or loyal or whatever. Finally it ended with a sort of zen prayer thing from the teacher.
Throughout all of this there was a professional photographer talking pictures. He insisted that he take a bunch with me and everyone else.
I made friends with everyone here. They were so happy when I said I loved Mao and that I was a communist. I discussed how I became a communist over the last 5-6 years and the things that radicalised me.
I ended up inviting one of the participants out for drinks later that night and I think we’ll stay in touch. She’s an English teacher in her spare time. Anyway, she sent through all the pictures that the photographer took.
All in all 10/10 wholesome experience and without trying to be patronising, these people were so fucking adorable.
Wuhan is a great city.
Bonus picture of me explaining my cool fucking hat.
Honestly very cute
Every week they spend Friday doing art instead of working
OBVIOUSLY they wanted to steal your organs. You cannot trust the wicked Chinese.
It’s too late, Flyberius has been 100% harvested and they quickly built a Potemkin Flyberius to fool the west (and also as an art project)
Wow. Thanks for the (major) refresher on hope for society as well as usual, always helps to have it. I touch grass, chat and have good connections irl (in the imperial core tho) and my fam comes from/I’ve been outside of the core (still capitalist country tho…), but seeing things like these in particular are very heartwarming to see.
Someday I hope the same experience can be found as a given all around the world.
That is a pretty sick hat
I love everything about this post
so many friends out there and a big ocean between me and them
Apply for an English teaching job and move out here. It’s doable.
I know a white guy who was hired to act in a wine commercial because he’s white. He was teaching English in China. He said it was because having a white person gave some cache to the commercial. Apparently, some white people are hired for parties to raise the social capital of the host. I think that’s what you got caught up in. Looks like fun though
I get what you are saying but I’m not sure they were promoting anything, the guy with the cameras was also a colleague and was drawing mandalas with the test of the group, he just happened to also be a professional photographer and was taking pictures throughout the day. I think they were just being friendly.
That doesn’t quite work anymore because working outside your field post 2018/2019 even if it’s a cash job tutoring English in a cafe will get you deported (if you’re caught). If your visa is for work teaching English at X, that is to be your only source of income, if you’re hired to be a model or you are actually employed by the company in question, that’s ok.
And if you’re caught you can’t just bribe your way out like it’s the 90’s and 00’s due to Xi’s anti corruption crackdowns.
God forbid if you’re on a non working visa and try and earn money on the side as a token white person.
My friend did this in the 00’s. I was using that as an example of how being white holds cultural cache in china. Explaining why a bunch of randoms, might center a white guy in their pictures.
Oh I know, I’m Chinese. In Wuhan presently. There are bus ads with white guys smiling to advertise a dental practice everywhere. There’s still a cultural cache, but they’re not using random white guys in cafes.
Although it would be an amusing story for them, you don’t just run into white people unless you go to international bars or tourist areas, and they’re not always friendly.
