New Show Idea

The show is called The Substitute, and it is inspired by my own experiences as a substitute teacher. The main character is basically based on how I envision my life were to go if I were to quit chasing my dreams and become complacent with my life of debauchery.

Gabriel is a 25 year old college graduate who has yet to get past his weed phase and lacks motivation. Though talented, smart, intelligent, and charismatic, Gabriel's habits and general synicism have kept him from maximizing his potential. On his third year as a substitute, Gabriel is dumped by his fiancee of three years and girlfriend of five. He works with his parents, who reluctantly get him a job at their school district. Gabriel lives with two friends, who are college dropouts who make more money than he does.

Gabriel frequently encounters friends from high school and college, who remind him of all of his involvements and achievement in school. When they find out what he does now, all of gabriel's friends are pleasantly surprised at how humble his situation is.

Gabriel's break-up leaves him even more empty and pushes him to more smoking, drinking, and cynicism. It is not until he sees his girl with a new boyfriend where he wakes up..

One Night in Hong Kong

I often complain to myself abot living a rather pedestrian life. Then, I'll look back at events that occured maybe a month previously and wonder why I never wrote about it when it happened.

August 27 2011

I had a lunchtime trans-pacific flight the next day, meaning I had to get up early the next morning. I had to make a decision: go to bed early and get up early, well-rested for an entire day of travel, or, party all night in Hong Kong, stumble drunkenly onto the plane, and pass out for my 12.5 hour flight. Being a Hong Kong addict, I went with the latter.

I was meeting a friend at a club in the Lan Kwai Fong area, but was having serious difficulty finding this club. I wandered around, refusing to ask for directions, as it is a bitch move. As I got more and more lost, it became apparent to anyone watching me that I was, in fact, lost.

I walked past a park, and saw an Indian man sitting on bench, looking about as shady as a lonely minority sitting in an empty park near the bar district of metropolitan city can look. Nonetheless, our eyes met. As I approached him to ask where this bar was, there was a certain acknoledgement in our eye contact that indicated to both of us that we had one thing in common: an appreciation for recreational drugs.

"What are you looking for?"
"Well, a bar, but how much for _______?"

After a few seconds, it was apparent that there would be no transaction. I wasn't surprised, I was broke and prices in Hong Kong are ridiculous. What I didn't expect was for him to offer to smoke me out and show me to the bar.

As a walked down an empty, roach infested alley, I started to what wonder if my better judgement was being applied here. There are some lesson I've been taught all my life that were flashing through my mind. Don't talk to strangers. Don't do drugs. Don't walk down dark alleyways. Don't walk down dark alleyways with strangers to do drugs

I overreacted, as we proceeded to get into much better moods. Apparently hustlin' on the park bench had left my friend Baba stressed, and in need of a brown friend to smoke a joint with. Once we were done, we went back into the crowd, looking for a club where my friend had been waiting for about hour. I asked the bouncer of one of the many bars there for directions, and when I turn around to find Baba, he's gone.

The word in my head at the moment was gratitude.
Thank you God for giving me the chance to party in the amazing city that is Hong Kong
Thank you for letting me be Andre, and not an immigrant drug dealer
Thank you for sending me weed bearing angels as I have needed them throughout my travels.

People

It's so easy to meet people abroad. Locals may befriend a foreigner for a number of reasons. Many locals are learning English and are eager to make non-Chinese friends. Many women seek a foreigner boyfriend, which has become fairly fashionable from what I've seen. If one can speak Chinese, it makes it even easier. The Chinese value their relationships as well, and they are strengthened over lavish dinners and night out at KTV. Having a local to be your friend and hangout with is pretty easy in China...

Befriending other ex pats is even easier. You walk into a bar, see another foreigner, and there's this moment of "huh". An instantaneous comradery forms simply because you are both in a strange environment. Where people are from, what they are doing there, etc., these are things you are actually interested while meeting fellow ex pats.

The sensation of socializing makes these people interesting to you. I feel that in America people are only genuinely interested in you if you provide utility to them. Sex, an image, money, maybe drugs; you are interested in people if they can bring these things to the table. Socialization for socialization's sake is rare.

Whereas before I just wanted to talk to anybody that could understand me, now all we seek is those who understand us and that we can use. I'd almost prefer it if all my friends would go with me to china so we can hang out there.

I'm Baaack

So, I decided to come home for the time being. It's gonna take a while for boats filled with bottles to arrive to Asia from Canada, so I really have nothing to do until then. Well, thats kind of a lie. I could've kept teaching English, studying Chinese, expanding my network, but I was homesick like a muh fugga.

My mom offered to pay for my ticket back to China for me to come home for Christmas. Considering the timing of the business, it just was not reasonable in a business sense to come home in December. Considering I had nothing to do in China, as I previously mentioned, I felt if I was going to come home, now is the best time.

I had fantasized often about what would happen when I got home. Let's see how long the illusion lasts as I am now a foreigner in my own home.