So I have too many jobs now. I feel like that Jamaican in the (SNL?) skit. My jobs are:

1. Proofing/recording for Melody. That’s pretty much done for now, but Henry wants me on the team creating a new line of English books too. That’ll start after Chinese New Year.
2. Translation of short Chinese news stories for a risk management company. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with this job. I hate translation and forcing myself to work at it for hours at a time, but it really does help my Chinese. And it’s decent money and I can do it from home.
3. Tutoring. Jane is my steady student. I’ve been teaching her for about half a year at 4 hours per week, and we’ve recently decided that she should take the IELTS to give herself a goal and a standard.
4. Web design. The website may not be attracting much attention, but I get the occasional job somehow. This time it’s for a “music bar” in Shanghai that Brad is working for.
5. Video game review. OK, this isn’t an actual job, but after mentioning Shadow of the Colossus on Sinosplice, I was contacted by a marketing agent who was willing to send me the game Spartan Total Warrior for free if I’ll agree to review it. I’ll put the review on iDrone, the collaborative “blogging for CASH” project that John B and I are about to launch.
6. Map proofing. A representative of Periplus found me online and wants me to proof their Shanghai map. The job involves going out and getting 1-2 good, up-to-date maps and comparing it to theirs, then pointing out where Periplus is behind. While it doesn’t sound exactly fun, it’s something I’ve never done before, and it pays decently, in American dollars.

Let’s see, how many of these jobs would I have a chance at doing if I weren’t living in China… Um, none. (Keep in mind that the tutoring job was found through Shanghai Tutor, which I built myself. Such a website can only work in a city with a huge population that wants to learn English.)

OK, I really need to finish my lunch and get back to my translating.