I will still be here. A developing person in a developing country.

Best of luck to you with your studies Humbug

You will be back...... you have the bug....

I would, China changed me in some ways, I have become stronger, I have more patience, I can handle nonsense and stupidity in a much better way.

China also changed my views on some topics. I now have more respect for religions and the basic set of values that they brought to our Western societies (killing is bad, lying is bad, charity is good, ...), China used to have values inherited from Buddhism mostly but they have now disappeared and this place has become a free-for-all land devoid of basic morals.

I am definitely a different person than I would have become if I didn't live in China, that doesn't mean I will leave this country anytime soon, I will continue making money here for as long as I can then move to a better. healthier society to settle down and create a family then to retire for my old days.

PTSD

I leave China in March, confirmed. I don't leave China behind me, because I will come back every year for work & family. It's a relocation, job stays the same.

I can handle contradiction and nonsense way better than before. I've a much sharper conscience of what I feel acceptable, because the boundary have been tested. I'm very hungry for social & public life : things like elections and town council seems super cool and interesting, now. My time in China showed me the huge importance of education & healthcare and its effect in a society. The lesson made me very, very defensive about my kids growing up in China.

Positively. I progressed in my personal and professional life while getting to broaden my horizons.

"What was I thinking?!"

Overall positively. It's where I made some of my best friends, set the course for my future career, became financially independent, and experienced things I never thought possible. China's toll on my psyche (and health) has yet to be determined. 

I was drunk too much of the time....seriously. I've only cleaned up in the last year or so...

Met and married my dream girl.  Wouldn't have happened if I wasn't here.

Whilst you know me as Royce, my real name is O Lucky Man!

I'll remember this as the place where I acquired the carcinogens which caused my slow painful death in my late fifties to early sixties, perhaps....

I mentioned this before but China gave gave me a very good push. 

It showed me a reflection of what my life would be like if I settle and just waste away my talents and potential. It gave me the time to explore these talents and improve my skills while not being forced into a huge debt with too much stress to think. 

On the other hand, I have experienced extremely stressful situations in China that I have never thought possible and learned some of the darker parts of humanity. 

I don't know if I would be better off not coming to China but it is a decision I have made and like it or loathe it... it was my decision and I am thankful for the freedom of being give that option. 

I expect to die here, so I will not be able to look back.

People always ask me when I will leave China. I have fallen into a love/hate relationship with China. I love the fact that it is ever changing and I am curious to be part of that change. Yet, i hate so many of the things that conflict with my western mentality. So, I aswer to the question of when I plan to leave is not available right now. I have been here two years. I have yet to grow as negative as many of my other foreigner compatriots. If I get to that point I will leave. There is very little in America that is calling me home. I lived there for 45 years of my life. Been there and done that. But, in this experience in China, I have learned that the world is a big place to explore. And, as an ESL teacher, so much of it is available to me. But, for the time being, I will stay here and experience the China that has made its way into my life. When I do leave, it will be bittersweet. I love Asia. I want to see it before moving onto other parts of the world. Eventually, I hope to live my retiring days working as a teacher in South America and having some great adventures like I have ad here in China.

When I die, I will leave my passport to vicky.