In February of 2021, I made a decision. Part of my reasoning was my disgust at the incoming Biden Administration. Part of my reasoning was the realization that my monthly income from tutoring students online would go a lot farther in a country with a lower cost of living. Part of it was cabin fever from a year and a half of Quarantine Blues. Part of it was simply that I was doing what I always do to recover from a heartbreak and hitting the damned highway (or the tarmac, as it were).
And frankly, a big part of it was simply that I'm tired of living among non expats. Who wants to live and die in their own country, right?
And that decision was, "I'm going back abroad."
But where? China was out of the question. Even on the rare days when I start getting nostalgic about the few positive traits Beijing actually had, I'll recall China's predatory treatment of anyone there who dares to write anything opposing China's official line (BBC Staff, Gunter, Yang, Khatchadourian Hurst, Gravitas Desk).
And of course, need we even mention the many, many, MANY horrors revealed by the much admired SerpentzSA, a man whose nightmarish experience in China was similar to my own but who managed to get the experience on Video?
My first choice of course would have been the Philippines, to be nearer to my family. But right now, their borders are locked down because of the ongoing presence of the Chinese virus. And that's not going to change any time soon because the one country whom that Chinese lapdog, Duterte, has continued to open his country's legs arms to, is the source of the plague: China.
I needed to find somewhere else to hang my hat. I considered Russia, considering my recent interest in the country. But after some thought, visiting the homeland of the woman whose memory I was running from seemed a bit counterintuitive.
Besides, Russia's borders are locked so tightly that not even their own citizens can get in.
But what about the country right next door: Ukraine?
Well, it was a hastily made decision. I looked online to find a Ukrainian city with a low cost of living and found Kharkiv, a former capital city, spitting distance from the Russian border. Without much further ado I booked a flight for early March, made an appointment for a Covid-test the day before, and the rest was history.
This was not my first time flying abroad by any means. But it was my first time flying to a new country without any idea what I was flying into. Nobody was waiting for me at the airport. There was no school institution to help with the transition process. All I had was the address of my hotel, a few thousand dollars in the bank and a hundred or so in my pocket, a 90 day countdown on my visa-free stay as a US citizen, and three heavy suitcases full of books.
As luck would have it, the hotel I'd picked (the Gostiny Dvor) was about a block away from a place called "Yankee: American Bar."
So I walked in to check it out. With my Cody James cowboy hat and Dan Post boots, it wasn't hard to identify me as an American. "Not just any American," I corrected with a cocky grin whenever anyone asked the obvious question. "A Texan."
And of course, the decor inside was so flag-wavingly American that it would be labelled as "offensive to immigrants" if it were back home in America. Murals of the Statue of Liberty and the state maps adorned every wall. Over the archway leading from the bar to the sitting area, the wall was covered in phrases like "Be America! See America! Follow America!"
What better place to find local expats, right? Well, turns out there are not many, during the Age of Corona, but there are still those few. The bartender, Vadim, recommended a local beer (I think it was Varvar Milkstout; sort of like Guinness but not quite as dark), and I just basically sat and waited for the ostentatious hat and boots to peak people's curiosity enough for them to come over and strike up conversations.
It didn't take long before someone explained where to find an apartment, how to start the visa process, and the basic "need to know" facts for an expat in a new country. Within a week, I had signed a lease on a new apartment. Granted it's way out on the outskirts of the city, but it's nicer than anything I lived in back in Shi-Na.
Everything seemed to be progressing (mostly) smoothly.
...At first.
And then, about a month after I arrived at Eastern Ukraine, so did the Russian Army (Smith and Bodner). I've always wanted to visit Russia, but I'm not crazy about having Russia come to visit me. So now, in addition to constantly having to worry about a Chinese invasion of my children's backyard (Japan Times Staff), I have to keep an eye out for a Russian invasion of mine.
Dammit Russia, I really want to like you, but you're not making it easy.
In truth, it's probably just some chest-beating. Biden's been determined to prove "I'm not Trump" by shaking his fist at Putin, a tactic to gain support with his moronic base who still cling to the "Trump colluded with the Russians" line, so it's only natural Putin would have to swing his dick in return. It'll likely blow over.
But whatever.
Before anyone asks, no. The focus of this blog is not shifting from "writing about everything that's evil about China" to "let's bash Russia." Russia is paranoid, and they interpret everything that any other country does as some kind of potential aggression against them. That's true enough and it's not going to change. But China? China's is outright evil, down to the very core of whatever they have in lieu of a soul. China is still the focus of this blog, the quintessential devil I have devoted my life to fighting against.
But now, I'm doing it from Kharkiv, Ukraine; at the doorstep of China's enemy-turned-ally-turned-enemy-again-turned-partner-of-convenience, Russia.
Let's see how this goes!
Works Cited
BBC Staff. "BBC China correspondent John Sudworth moves to Taiwan after threats." BBC News. 31 Mar, 2021. Web. 17 Apr, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56586655
Gunter, Joel. "The cost of speaking up against China." BBC News. 31 Mar, 2021. Web. 15 Apr, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-56563449
Gravitas Desk. "Ticket to China? Check This List of Detained Foreign Citizens First." Gravitas. 10 Mar, 2021. Web. 11 Apr, 2021. https://www.wionews.com/world/ticket-to-china-check-this-list-of-detained-foreign-citizens-first-369519
Hurst, Daniel. "Australian Journalist Cheng Lei Formally Arrested in China After Six months' Detention." The Guardian. 8 Feb, 2021. Web. 13 Apr, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/08/australian-journalist-cheng-lei-formally-arrested-in-china-after-six-months-detention
Japan Times Staff. "Filipino Reporters Chased by Armed Chinese Ships in Disputed South China Sea." Japan Times. 10 Apr, 2021. Web. 17 Apr, 2021. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/04/10/asia-pacific/philippines-china-navy-ship/
Khatchadourian, Raffi. "Surviving the Crackdown in Xinjiang." 5 Apr, 2021. Web. 17 Apr, 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/12/surviving-the-crackdown-in-xinjiang
Smith, Alexander & Bodner, Matthew. "Russia amasses troops near U.S. ally Ukraine. But what is Putin's goal?" NBC News. 14 Apr, 2021. Web. 17 Apr, 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-amasses-troops-near-u-s-ally-ukraine-what-putin-n1263894
Yang, William. "Why are Foreign Journalists Fleeing China?" DW. 1 Apr, 2021. Web. 14 Apr, 2021. https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-foreign-journalists-fleeing-china/a-57075732