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Catching Up on a Long Lakeside Scooter Ride in China

The time goes by so quickly, doesn’t it? For the past two years I had put the Red Dragon Diaries behind me to better focus on my responsibilities and career as an expat teacher. I had reached a point where I had to choose. Now in my second year of life in China, I’ve decided to dust off and fire up the old cameras.

How frequently I will post and how much time I can commit to making videos again is entirely up in the air. I truly enjoy the creative process and engagement that goes along with making videos and writing, but these things do require a lot of thought and effort if I want to make them worthwhile.

I have a list of things that I’d like to share about life here in Guangdong province, but I need to be sensitive to my job at the new international school I teach at currently.

The area I live in is very nice. It’s not the most exciting place, but the neighborhood offers great living conditions. I live in a brand new 2 BR apartment in a well-manicured development. Mostly families live here so the craziness quotient is absent. This suits me just fine at this stage of my life.

One feature here that makes de-stressing an option is the large lake next to my development called Songshan Lake. As we’re on holiday for Tomb Sweeping Day”, I thought the time was right to hop on my electric scooter and give you a visual as I catch up on two years. How I got to this point. What has been happening in my life – the ups and downs. Where I want to go from here.

It’s a long watch, but consider it a past due chat with an old friend. We all have a story…


Comments

  1. Welcome back, Tom.
    I have wondered a few times over the past two years. “I wonder whatever happened to Tom vlogging about Korea and then about Japan, too. Then I thought, maybe he got married. Oh yeah, that’s what happened.” Then I wished you well and watched another episode of my current Kdrama obsession.” Haha 🙂
    Btw, I have been a subscriber of your channel for some years now. And I got this notification [my second in fact] that a new video was posted on it and a link was there to view it and see for myself. Well, I thought “No way.! Don’t click the bait, unsubscribe now!” So I did or tried to but somehow I failed and got another notification. Then I thought, Is this possibly legit? Nah, I said…It can’t be.”
    However, before I unsubscribed I decided I’d go to your channel and see for myself if there was a recent UPLOAD…Omgosh, and there it was. I was so surprised and excited too, hoping maybe you would explain why your channel had been inactive for so long. Of course, I had to know. So I put off shopping online for a new dishwasher and clicked instead to Start this Video 🙂 So to reiterate, “Welcome back, Tom.” Stella

  2. I watched the whole thing! Welcome back, Tom. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It takes courage to do so and to remain authentic. Bless you. Keep ’em coming : )

  3. Hi Tom,

    I am impressed by your honesty, candor, and resilience. I’ve watched and read some of the professional setbacks and personal issues you faced, and admire your willingness to talk about them without any pretensions. And the fact that your mind is still set on a particular mission to fight some terribly evil forces in your world today, is a testament to how much you have grown as a person and the optimism you possess. That dream of yours sounds daunting, and even dangerous, but I applaud how all these years, it’s still something you’re striving to achieve. I pray and hope many of the children will benefit from your efforts, faith, and commitment.

    God bless!

    • Thank you so much. This road of expat life as a teacher has changed substantially for me. I now realize that I need to make it a story. A blessing to someone (including myself). My hope is that this is just the beginning rather than a sign of the end approaching.

  4. Glad to see you pop up again! I first found Red Dragon years ago when I saw one of your posts on sherdog. I’m a BJJ guy but I loved your judo videos and even visited kodokan when I passed through Japan. Thank you also for your witness. I watch a fair amount of YouTube to research various topics and places and, while I appreciate people’s information and content, there is so much about it that’s frivolous and empty. I can’t help but cringe a little bit with most YouTubers or instagrammers when they try to get philosophical and give life advice. But I really appreciate your humility and genuineness. I’m excited for God’s plans for your life!

    • Thank you, Phil. I do try to make my content meaningful to myself so I know it’s a reflection of me. Glad to hear from a fellow grappler and that you made it to the Kodokan. There aren’t many places like it in the world.

Trackbacks

  1. […] and who are probably jerks in real life. Tom comes across as what you see is what you get. So even a 40+ minute video of him narrating how his life has come after eight years is worth watching and listening to. He has a lot […]

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