The Powers That Be in China have decided to enforce the regulation that they will not grant a work visa to persons over 60 years of age. So it appears -- unless there is some province where the authorities are still bending the rules a bit -- that my China adventure will come to an end in about six weeks. My current work visa will expire and I won't be able to get a new one because I turned 60 last November. I hope that there are still some exceptions to this rule --  I hope to find some university in the hinterlands that is willing and able to take a chance on hiring a decrepit old foreigner. 

Around the campus here, I see dozens of janitorial and landscaping staff, hard at work all day, who appear to be older than 60. And I see hundreds of seniors working on other public landscaping projects around town. Mandatory retirement appears to apply only to government and white collar workers, who also enjoy better pension benefits. For Chinese nationals, the current retirement age is 60 years for men, and 55 for women. 
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There is a strong social expectation that the retired women will look after their grandchild, while their daughters and daughters-in-law go to work. The grandfathers pitch in with the babies, as well. That said, the Chinese government is planning to raise the retirement age, for obvious economic (as in economic realities) and demographic reasons. 

At any rate, I predict that this no-foreigners-over-60 rule will be revised or withdrawn before long, the demand for native English teachers being what it is, but probably not in time to change things for me, or many others in the same boat.

The reality of this hasn't really hit -- will I have to say goodbye to my students, colleagues and friends, and return to Canada and a very different lifestyle? Ross and I were planning to explore more of Asia -- we love the six weeks' winter vacation that comes working as a teacher at an institute of higher learning in China, and the low cost of roaming and flying wherever we pleased. 
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I'm not feeling particularly worried about not knowing where I will be come this September. September will come anyway. And meanwhile I want to cherish these last few weeks in Zibo, because the world that surrounds me here, which was once so alien and remarkable, is now familiar and routine and frankly, has become a second home.

What a bland blog post title. I really wanted to title it, "What rising tensions in Asia mean for foreigners, specifically, me" but so far, the rising tensions haven't affected me at all. But for the first time, yesterday, I was standing at a bus stop with Ross and thinking, IF relations between Donald Trump and China's president Xi Jinping get any worse, than Ross and I might want to sew a some big, fat, Canadian flag decals on all of our clothing. Was it my imagination, but were some of the people at the bus stop looking at us in an unfriendly way?

In case you haven't heard, President Trump recently threw out the, uh... observation, shall we call it, that if China didn't do something about North Korea, then the US would act alone in solving the problem of that aggressive hermit nightmare regime.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn [eyeroll] that President Trump knows nothing about the history of North and South Korea, or the "six party" talks. All of the nations living within nuclear-bomb striking distance of Pyongyang have a stake in the outcome of diplomatic talks with North Korea and that they should be a party to the talks. South Korea's capital city, Seoul, is the city that would be incinerated if the North Korean regime ever made good on its threats. So this "go it alone" talk is not helpful or respectful.
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​Not that I have any ideas or solutions, nor can I predict what will happen. Perhaps the Kim regime can only be toppled by force. Perhaps Kim Jong-Un's own generals, alarmed by his Caligula-like behavior, will deal with him themselves. But I'm old enough to remember when his father, Kim Jong-Il, came to power, and back then, the experts were asking if the regime could possibly survive. The misery continues, year after year. Some more random thoughts:

"You are like a piece of chocolate -- you will always be at the bottom of my heart."  -- farewell note from a student.

So for now, the adventure is over. I will miss my new 'home town' Zibo, so much, especially just looking at the bustling world go by through the windows of a rickety bus, or exploring a new street on our bicycles, and (sigh) the food. Ah, the food. And the friendly people. And my students. And my new friends. It  wasn't fun telling everybody 'good-bye.'

I'll be living on Vancouver Island for the time being. The blog will remain in place, and..... we'll see what the future brings.

One morning during our recent month-long vacation, I was tidying up around our beach bungalow in a quiet Thai village while listening to my husband talking to a friend back in Canada over Skype. He was giving a blow-by-blow of our vacation to that point. First, he (my husband) put his back out and pinched a nerve just before we were to go on vacation. He had to bring a cane along so he could hobble through the airport. Over the following days, he gradually got better as we enjoyed the beauties of the city of Guilin and took a cruise on the Li River to see the famous karst mountains. Then, on our last day in Guilin, I came down with a mild fever.