"The Straw that Bit the Shoulder"

The Peace Corps experience is not an individual one. In order to survive this experience or others like it, volunteers develop networks with one another that span hundreds of miles and dozens of cities. Through programs such as Skype, Gmail Chat, regular ol' email, and occasional visits, we provide support to one another. Talking to family and friends back home is wonderful, but, when push comes to shove, the people who will best understand how it feels to be curled up around a toilet at 4 am wishing you hadn't eaten the bad dumplings or why you cannot hear "Helllooooooo!" one more time that day without losing your mind are the people going through the same thing. It is basic social psychology: you become close to those with whom you share the same experiences.

With that said, from time to time, I am going to tell you about a few of my fellow volunteers here in "the Gansu" as one person refers to our province. There are 16 of us here together (from this year's volunteer class) in this far-flung province and everyone has a unique life story, goals, quirks and reasons for volunteering. You have met Pierce already, the next person up is none other than:

Simon

I first spoke to Simon in San Francisco while we were waiting for the bus to take us to the airport. He was very reserved and almost shy. He didn't have much to say. Fast forward to today and Simon is much more outspoken and is known by his famous Simon catchphrase, "Come on!" It is used when someone is teasing him, they don't believe him, or won't agree with him about a particular topic. (Simon was speaking to Pierce and I during training one day and he tried to say, "The straw that broke the camel's back." Because he forgot the saying, it came out "The straw that bit the shoulder." Whenever we tease him about it we can usually count on a "Come on!" from Simon.)

Simon hails from West Virginia/Pittsburgh and is, in my opinion, one of the more quirky people that I have met here. Half of his family is German and he is fluent in the language. He studied for a while in Germany and he has just recently gotten his undergraduate degree (in the U.S.) He loves college football (he even played on his college team) and thinks that the Ohio-Michigan college football game is better than Christmas.

Simon has plans to accomplish the things in life that make him happy. Sound strange and vague? That's Simon! He has a relatively straightforward view of life: He wants to have a full life while he is still young and that includes things that I didn't expect.

For example, one of the goals he has while he is in China is to learn the violin. The Peace Corps provides language/culture funds for volunteers who want to learn while they are in China. You can use the funds to take lessons covering virtually anything as long as it is either taught in Mandarin or it is relevant to the culture. Most volunteers lean more toward language, writing, tai chi, martial arts or other art forms. Simon chose a different path and is giddy about his new love for the violin.

Simon sees the world in these terms: Provide for your basic necessities first, after that try to accomplish the things you want with as little resistance as possible. Setting goals isn't as important as enjoying life is for him. While this runs contrary to how many people think a person should conduct their lives, for Simon, it works.

Here is a portion of a conversation that he and I had one night regarding this particular topic:

(Incidentally, I think it is pretty funny how everything he says starts with "simon...says." It makes me want to play the game!)

[11/17/2006 10:39:31 AM] simon ... says: a person needs food, clothing and shelter to survive
[11/17/2006 10:40:21 AM] simon ... says: anything you do that is not directly related to these things is, in terms of simply living a life, wasting time
[11/17/2006 10:40:41 AM] simon ... says: you dont' need to do these things
[11/17/2006 10:41:39 AM] Thad ... says: So you want to waste your time really well?
[11/17/2006 10:41:50 AM] simon ... says: basically
[11/17/2006 10:42:00 AM] simon ... says: i want to enjoy it
[11/17/2006 10:42:13 AM] simon ... says: i want to feel like i'm not really wasting it
[11/17/2006 10:42:23 AM] Thad ... says: How do you decide what things are worthy and what aren't? Violin = good, Computer = bad? Seems arbitrary.
[11/17/2006 10:42:36 AM] simon ... says: it's how it makes you feel
[11/17/2006 10:42:47 AM] simon ... says: it's a personal decision
[11/17/2006 10:42:59 AM] simon ... says: for me, working out wouldn't be wasting time
[11/17/2006 10:43:09 AM] simon ... says: but for someone else it would be
[11/17/2006 10:43:24 AM] Thad ... says: So you want spend the maximum amount of time in your life doing things that you like and not doing things you don't like before you die.
[11/17/2006 10:43:41 AM] simon ... says: yes
[11/17/2006 10:43:50 AM] simon ... says: it's my life, i should do what i want with it
[11/17/2006 10:43:53 AM] simon ... says: i should enjoy it
[11/17/2006 10:44:10 AM] simon ... says: and beyond doing the necessary things to survive, everything else should be enjoyable
[11/17/2006 10:43:59 AM] Thad ... says: What about doing things that you don't like in order to get to the things you do like?
[11/17/2006 10:44:05 AM] Thad ... says: Are those okay?
[11/17/2006 10:44:29 AM] simon ... says: well, nothing in life is simple
[11/17/2006 10:44:36 AM] simon ... says: peace corps is a good example of that

When he is finished he will spend several months bicycle-touring the U.S. Starting in the east, he'll make a large circle seeing as much as he can. He has routes, costs, and daily distances calculated. Other volunteers have plans for after Peace Corps, but I think Simon's is, by far, the most unique.

One of the benefits of my time here that I didn't expect is the friendships that I have built with my fellow volunteers. Now, I know that some of them will fade as time goes by and we leave this place, but even if I come away with just one new friend that stands the test of time, isn't it worth it?

Pics

Photo 1: Simon in repose. He looks a little tooooo relaxed.

Photo 2: Taken during our Thanksgiving meal. He was not happy about having the boa wrapped around his neck and was doubly unhappy about being photographed. I asked him why he let it happen and he said he was too busy eating his meal. He was proud that he finished 5 helpings of food.

Photo 3: This was taken at our swearing in ceremony. It is Simon and Aaron, another volunteer in Chengdu. They had jackets made for the event.

Photo 4: During training, as a means of exposing us to culture, we had a watercolor lesson. Simon was a good sport for awhile, but then he got frustrated after realizing that his picture of peaches was some other fruit instead. He decided he didn't wan't to paint the sky behind it after that and came up with this, an easier solution.