just john

It's raining and 50 something degrees.

I feel like I've been absent from this a while and I would probably be correct. I think I've entered a bout of homesick which doesn't really detract from Europe but it does detract somewhat from my enjoyment of it. Vacation has ended again and I think Jodie had a good time despite a relatively minor fiasco. London even obliged us with a sunny day and Londoners in general turned out to be the most friendly, helpful people I've run into so far. No less than 3 people asked us if we needed help on our first experience with the subway. I don't know if Jodie carrying my amputated arm was a factor or not but at least they seemed to care about our welfare. Like the other stuff, I'll get around to pictures soon.

Now I'm here trying to get back into my routine. Being off my routine gives me too much time to read the news. That's not good for anyone. At least I was able to resolve m Etrade problems. They locked me out of my account because someone was logging in from a non U.S.-based server. Once you get flagged by security, they won't discuss your account with you until you can prove who you are. In their case they wanted, after three or four requests, a notarized letter from me begging to again have access to my own money. Apparently their security policy is based on the assumption that American notaries are located on every street corner of every foreign country in the world. My assumption is that Etrade policies are formulated by stupid fucks.

Another friend over here just had to close his paypal account because of a similar issue. Of course I learn this after logging into my own paypal account. had to log in (again) for customer service because they won't show you the phone number otherwise and was told by customer service "yep, that'll probably happen if you keep logging in from outside the U.S." The solution is to open a European paypal account which does not function with your U.S. bank account or credit card. nor does it function with your original email adress. So after seven years of depending on a service provider, I am now afraid to log into it. Maybe the economy is global, but the needs of normal people seem to be largely unadressed.

It's recently come up that I might be spending six to eight weeks in China during this two year stint. My co-workers seem to think it's a great opportunity... On the flip side, reading about Chinese culture is rather engaging. They function and react almost nothing like what westerners are used to so the challenge will basically be just fitting into the group. How I might actually accomplish what we all hope for seems daunting but there's really nothing to do but try and make it happen. 

At most of a year here, I'm starting to feel like my relationship with America is becoming somewhat disconnected. I don't know what's playing at the movies, there are songs I've never heard, and some of my friends talk about tv shows I've never even seen advertising for. Probably all part of the cultural assimilation process I keep going back to and re-reading but you still have to let it run it's course. It's sort of like smearing your face against the subway hand rail in New York. You know you're going to get sick, nothing you can do will change that. You just have to try and minimize the symptoms.

Some days, I think this shoud be called dark optimism.