Who is a ChunZhu? « Stupid Pig’s China Blog

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Who is a ChunZhu?

January 29, 2008 by chunzhu

ChunZhu (蠢猪 - Stupid Pig) is a mid twenties male Cantonese-Chinese-American from a lower middle working class immigrant family. I attended the University of California Berkeley and graduated after four years with a degree in International Political Economy. I am currently working as an English trainer at Microsoft Beijing’s Advanced Technology Center.

I am a jack of all trades and master of none. I was a mediocre student at Berkeley, usually ranked just above the mean, participating occasionally in classes, and gained minor respect from a small number of my professors. I speak English, Spanish, Cantonese, and Mandarin, but am fluent (barely) only in English and am nearly illiterate when it comes to Chinese. I have worked a variety of jobs and performed adequately though without any distinction, starting out as a janitor at a movie theatre before becoming a dishwasher, photographer’s assistant, resident’s adviser, event assistant, accountant, an English teacher at a Guangdong university, and now, an English trainer.

I did some volunteering as a tutor for new immigrant children in Chinatown and was a high school cross country assistant coach in my spare time. I participated in a large variety of sports, gaining a yellow belt and an award in judo, ran a decent but unremarkable time at the Bay to Breakers, and rumbled with my friends during weekend backyard football games. I played many computer games but rarely to the end, was involved in the development of a text based online game but quit after coding a raccoon, and wrote after action reports which were nominated for a hall of fame award, though it failed to win.

I am nothing special. I go through life doing what I want and what is necessary, rarely amazing or disgusting anyone in the process. I write this blog for no purpose and don’t expect this thing to become very popular. I predict that due to lack of interest, this blog will soon fade away like the millions of other abandoned blogs out there after a few months of obscurity…

…but while it’s around, I hope you enjoy the words of Stupid Pig. Thank you for reading.

17 Responses to “Who is a ChunZhu?”

on February 2, 2008 at 10:03 am1 Albert

I appreciate this page. Does that count?
on February 3, 2008 at 4:06 pm2 chunzhu

Hell yes it counts.
on March 8, 2008 at 2:59 am3 M. G.

Hey,
I found your blog by following the link left on my China Digital Times article on Women in rock bands. I am hoping to go to China this this June and find a job. I see you teach English at the Microsoft Center. I would really like to get some information. Could you email me? Thanks. M.A.G.
on March 8, 2008 at 7:04 pm4 chunzhu

Hello MAG,

Well, I don’t have your e-mail, so I’ll just write a whole entry about it in my blog. Let me know if you have any more questions.
on March 17, 2008 at 11:55 pm5 declan

Hi, I have really enjoyed your articles and views of China. i rather agree with them. I am a Wandering Irishman currently in Vietnam , teaching and living , normally resident in Australia, or Canada, or back home in Ireland.
on March 18, 2008 at 11:13 am6 chunzhu

Thanks for the kind words.
on March 24, 2008 at 7:12 pm7 madison

hi there stupid pig,
your article is interesting… i got this link from the Dalai Lama org site. would love to hear from you more.
on March 25, 2008 at 3:43 pm8 chang

May I inquire as to where in Northern California you grew up?
on March 25, 2008 at 4:20 pm9 erguotou

Great blog! I am adding Stupid Pig to my Blogroll right now! I guess you were born in a year of the pig?
Martin
http://erguotou.wordpress.com
on March 25, 2008 at 5:01 pm10 chunzhu

@madison - thanks, glad you like it. what’s the Dalai Lama org site?

@chang - a little south of Oakland

@erguotou - thanks. actually born year of the rat, my dad just called me stupid pig as a term of endearment… or resentment
on April 27, 2008 at 6:48 am11 jonathan

This is quite a packed site you have here, i love the topics and opinions, which i must say i agree with on many fronts. I’ve been living in Ningbo for a year and a half, and many of my views on China have changed from my perceptions in college. What motivates you to write? How many hours do you spend per week? Do you plan to stay here for awhile?
Keep up the good work, I have a new favorite bookmark.
on April 28, 2008 at 1:24 pm12 chunzhu

@jonathan - Glad you enjoy the blog. Motivates me? Well, I’ve studied Chinese economic development in college and now I’m in China, so I just thought I’d put my general thoughts down for all the world to read and criticize. Hours per week… I would say about an hour a day. And plan to stay… I’m going back to school in a couple months so I might not be writing as much, but until then my output should stay relatively constant. Hope to see your comments in the future!
on May 7, 2008 at 5:56 pm13 joni

I just recently discovered your blog and I’m hooked! I loooove it!

Uh, my brain’s fried right now so that will be all. Next time I’ll try to write something more substantial.
on May 8, 2008 at 11:41 am14 chunzhu

@joni - Glad you like it, hope your brain gets better!
on May 23, 2008 at 9:26 pm15 joni

I linked you to my page.

^That still isn’t very substantial, is it? Oh well.
on June 5, 2008 at 9:24 pm16 jakob

hello I have a question:
I am moving to china from september and I have a wordpress blog. I hear that is not visible in china, is yours?
If so how did you do it?
Thank you
on June 6, 2008 at 4:45 pm17 chunzhu

@ Jakob - I work for Microsoft so we don’t have to deal with the Great Firewall. WordPress got unblocked a month or so ago, but I think it might be blocked again.

I’m not sure if you can log in using anonymouse or not, but yeah… maybe vidalia and privoxy combo might work for you. Good luck.