I had a few days free over the New Year. When I'm not engrossed in daily survival, I have time to brood and reflect, which is not always a good thing when you're limited in your choices.

Mao Mao, when he's not chatting away with his friends at work, dreaming up one lofty scheme after another, actually makes some keen observations about life here vs. life in China. Here, it's easy to acquire a middle-class life, though chained to a paycheck and house payments, whereas it's easier to become really wealthy in China, though the money could stop at anytime. His master plan is to get a green card and then go back and forth, doing trading or exports and if things get unstable on either side, he can just take off for the other side. He has no plans to join the mainstream society here, and maybe it's for the best, the older one gets, the harder it is to fake enthusiasm for things outside one's realm of experience.

China is still growing, and there are ways for people to make large amounts of money doing borderline-illegal things. America's power structure is more established, so it's easier being a cog here but harder to break out of the rut.

I know not what I want but what I don't want, and that is being powerless and hopeless. I'll make that my New Year's wish, more power and hope for people who deserve them.