Imagine yourself 10,000 kilometers from anything you've ever known, surrounded by a foreign language you can't understand, in one of the world's largest megacities, Shanghai...
You are one of 25,000,000 souls, lost in a sea of wonder and terror, because no amount of coping mechanisms can overcome the shock of moving to the far side of the world.
"China transformed me. I never changed so quickly and drastically in my life. The time I spent there is irreplaceable, a university experience unique to few citizens of the USA and Western world. I recognize more and more how interesting and exceedingly rare is my intimate exposure to China culture, philosophy, and society."
Justin Markowitz, "The China Experience"
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Explore the mystical East and learn secrets of life from greats like Confucius, the Stoics, and Lao Tzu. Feel the thrill of visiting Avatar mountain, Terracotta Armies, and obscure alleyways lit by red laterns. See what life is like in China from the government to its citizens, from eating new foods to trying to learn a new language from scratch.
“The China Experience” is more than just a book, taking you on an adventure away from the comfort of your everyday life and throwing you into the chaos of moving to a foreign continent without any prior exposure. Imagine leaving everything you ever knew behind and starting a new life.
Everything is unfamiliar, shocking, and magical. Food is different and oily, the sidewalk is always crowded, and people look at you like you're from Mars... Could you adapt quickly enough to survive?
Traffic echoes off of the concrete towers at every hour, lights block out every star in the sky, and the wind howls. Looking out over the endless skyscrapers from a 16th story balcony, you look for a sign.
The view of Shanghai from 16 stories up
And then ancient philosophic knowledge comes to you...
Everyone, you included, has the power to overcome adversity. The human spirit is strong, and only in struggles of life and death does a person find out what they are truly capable of withstanding.
Looking back I understand that a large part of the shock was an amazing combination of boredom and terror. I was mostly alone every day, and there was nothing to do but study and explore. The life of a student is full of leisure and my primary stimulus being the shock of isolation in a foreign country and one of the world’s largest concrete jungles felt like a constant psychedelic trip. I was literally always on my seat’s edge, captivated and in a state of suspended terror.
Justin Markowitz, "The China Experience"
And you ask yourself...
"Will I run, give up, and flee back to where I came from? Or will I face my fears, grow as a person, and endure the struggle necessary to become a better version of myself?"
Pressing on is the only option. Giving up is a path to regret. But the future is uncertain, and the path towards actualization gradually reveals itself only to a person with faith in what they are doing.
You carry on, sure that you can prove wrong all the doubt swirling around in your head, seizing every moment of clarity and relentlessly fighting for order in a chaotic world.
From the ground up, a rennaissance begins. New routines, a stronger body, and healthier thought patterns follow. Throwing yourself into the fires of change pays off after months of cultivating your volition!
A folk festival in rural China
A mystic transformation begins, and the past fades into a distant story. Fear’s conquest sets you free. You cannot understand, exactly, what is happening, but your inuition repeats "you are on the right path."
And each successful conversation in Mandarin, gig landed, and class passed, changes the wind ever more in your favor- reinforcing the whispers in your head. Sometimes you wake up and think "is this really my life? I could never have forseen this being my life a couple years ago."
You find that in slaying the part of you perpetuating doubt and negativity, your patterns change. Your resillient and disciplined mind invigorates your body, and soon more than you dreamed could ever go right blesses you.
The Master said, "Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters? Is he not a man of complete virtue, who feels no discomposure though men may take no note of him?"
Confucius, "The Analects"
Adventures, family, and philosophy make a person strong. You relish each opportunity to further their presence in your life. You barely recognize yourself compared with a few months ago. And even your friends look at your transformation in disbelief.
But the world is a big, powerful entity, and the power of feeling small in foreign lands is nothing compared to what happens next. Even the shocks you absorbed and overcame pale in comparison to this...
When everything is going well, a person is more liable to drop their guard. Even with diligence, what happens can be completely out of control. And when a situation defies expectations and efforts, a person is presented with the scenario to display their dynamacy or crumble.
No road remains eternally smooth, and journeys by character will be fast and later slow, where will you find motivation to continue when fate strips you of options and the journey becomes difficult
"During the hours of recuperation that winter I read about a man eating an uncooked marmot in Inner Mongolia and contracting the Bubonic plague... Normally, such a tale is irrelevant but I tell you only because a couple of weeks later, the headlines displayed a virus being discovered in Wuhan, China. All I could think was ’winter in China, whoa’”
Justin Markowitz, "The China Experience"
Can you outrun the covid virus? Are you brave enough to try?
Premonitions of the future necessitate prudence. But to thrive is impossible without following a higher calling. And if that calling takes you out into a world endangered by forces impossibñe to understand...
Is there a responsibility to take that plunge? If you ignore adventure’s call, will you live with regrets? Will you be able to process what is happening around you with a clarity elsuive to most peoples of the planet?
“An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for their misfortune. To blame oneself is progress. But the wise person never has to blame another or themself.”
-Epictetus, "Enrichirdion"
In a never ending saga, join Mental Sweat Official's Justin Markowitz in exploring China, Vietnam, and Thailand, all while outrunning the corona virus.
The entire Korean Air fleet grounded, because of Corona Virus.
Coronavirus changed the world as everyone knew it. Masks, lockdowns, quarentines changed our style of life while food, fuel, and labor shortages instilled a fear that society itself was in danger.
Each person has a different experience, but Justin Markowitz has spent almost the entirety of the pandemic era continuing to travel, escaping China by chance before the first lockdowns in January 2020, and riding the last plane out of mainland Asia to north America in March 2020.
Read "The China Experience" for part one of pandemic times adventuring...
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