Jiggedy Jig

[benlehman]

Having finally made it home (though being hung up by an unpleasant cold), I can finally start thinking about what to do next. Trip summary update will come after this one, methinks.

Here is the rough outline:
Now: Be at home. Recover from 10 weeks of couch-surfing.
Summer: Get a job and an apartment. Finish Polaris, and possibly Bliss Stage
Fall: Travel the China, securing a job. Stay for at least a year.



Summer possibilities include staying in the Humboldt County area around family and old friends, living in the Bay Area amongst newer friends, the Raleigh/Durham area with zigguratbuilder and his lovely wife, or the Pioneer Valley area near to keirgreeneyes, lumpley, and others.

Humboldt:

Pros: Can stay rent-free w/ folks and build up money. Near to old friends. Redwood trees and fog will mean actual health.

Cons: Middle of nowhere makes travel hard. Jobs are few and far between. Possibility of being stuck for longer than expected is very high, given the "Humboldt Trap" effect. Living w/ parents not the easiest thing in the world.

Chance of long-term Polaris playtest: middling.

Berkeley:

Pros: Close to home, but not too close for comfort. Very good gaming, generally high quality people. Berkeley is an awesome place to live. Close enough to home to get appropriate fog quantities. Lots of art and culture.

Cons: Jobs hard to come by, even though I have a Gogglite aggressively recruiting me. Chance of getting stick mid-to-high. Expensive, all jobs low-paying.

Chance of long-term Polaris playtest: middling-to-high.

Raleigh:

Pros: Cheap rent in an excellent house. Cohabitation with awesome people in an awesome house. Job opportunities are apparently multitudinous. Infinite access to zigguratbuilder's Japanese RPG library. Apparently a somewhat happening place, despite appearances. Near to the cool greywords, and my awesome DC cousins.

Cons: Hot and dry climate totally unsuitable for my amphibious nature. Subdivisions and shopping malls not condusive to my usual "walk everywhere" lifestyle.

Chance of long-term Polaris playtesting: High.

Pioneer Valley:

Pros: Awesome hippy culture reminiscent of home. Full of indie-rock and indie-comic icons. Near to two or more genius-level game designers, who would be happy to teach me about their craft. Also, one of them cooks well. Exposure to kids a big plus.

Cons: Job may not be ideal. All the cool people in the area have their own lives, and thus may not be able to socially support me. Climate may be too hot.

Chance of Long Term Polaris playtesting: Certain.

Then, for China travel, I have two options:

Fly Direct

Just go there.

Pros: Cheap. Easy.
Cons: None.

Trans-Mongolian Line

Fly to Europe, visit friends and family there, then take the train.

Pros: Travel the longest uninterrupted rail line in the world. Get to see people in Europe, including hopefully noradannan and Eero Tuovinen, as well as family members. Excuse to travel more. Opportunity to game with Scandanavians.

Cons: Expensive and time-consuming. Two week train voyage through rural Siberia may cause head-exploding.

Then, in China, I could live in a city (probably Nanjing, to hang out with foreign_devilry or Kunming, because it is awesome), or I could try to find a job in the countryside.

City Pros: Possible gaming connection. Access to decadent western luxuries like cheese and the internet. Could go out dancing on weekends. More cultural sites. Much easier on those who want to come visit me (keirgreeneyes and psychotropek, I'm looking at you two.) Higher paying work. Possibility of much higher paying work.

City Cons: May fall into the expat trap of hanging out with foreigners, thus reducing my Chinese skills. Have already experienced Chinese city life. Possibility of debauched dissipation much higher.

Country Pros: Get to see a new way of life. Total immersion in language. Chance to learn fangyan, also see what Chinese rural life is like.

Country Cons: No pay. Totally isolated. If job sucks, cannot leave. Possibility of being a caged monkey for a year not remote.



So I've been thinking about that.

Comments

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

It's true. I'm definitely not thinking of settling in the countryside -- just maybe living for 6 months - 1 year. Have you been to the Chinese countryside? What was your experience? Or are you just talking about country life in general?

I am a small-town boy.

yrs--
--Ben

[russiandude.livejournal.com]

I was in China for a month a few years ago with a group. Besides travelling around, we did two homestays (one week in a medium city and one week in the countryside). I think I would be a bit lonely there - not all that many people and not all that many activities. I could find things to do I suppose (draw, write, etc), but I would really miss the social interactions, as there would not be as many people there (esp, people my age). Granted your experience may vary. In general, country life in various countries is not all that different (or at least as far as I can tell).