In America, I’m a journalist. In China, I’ll be an English teacher. What will I call myself a year from now?

I’ve spent most of my life in California, growing up in the Southland and going to school in Santa Cruz on the Central Coast. Europe whetted my wanderlust, and the farther I got from the Disneylands of Paris, Venice, Rome and Florence, the more interesting things became.

My favorite cities in Europe are Prague, Sarajevo and Dubrovnik. In those places, change was palpable and hostels were cheap. Countries trying to re-invent themselves are infinitely more fascinating than those trying to remain as museums shaped like nation-states.

As a journalist, I’m always on the lookout for change, but my interest in whole societies in the midst of a metamorphosis seems to run deeper, and I’m not sure why. China is undergoing one of the biggest transformations in modern history, emerging from a closed society to a global economic powerhouse. At the same time, I’m trying to re-invent myself in a way, both by moving to China and by changing jobs for a while.

So, I have to wonder: What will China look like a year from now, and how will I be looking at it?

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 17th, 2006 at 3:31 am and is filed under self-indulgence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.