Well, yes, maybe, probably.

I came across an article the other day comparing Chinese and Western business cultures. It said that, where Western culture thrives on the black and the white of things (the facts!), the Chinese way is to live and work in a world of uncertainty.


The title of this blog entry is the verbatim answer from my boss to the question "Will I teach the same classes next term?" He wasn't being deliberately difficult or evasive; that's just the way he views something in the future. I guess he's right: who really knows what will happen in two months' time for goodness sake?


Even the government does it. National holidays aren't officially announced until a couple of days before. And a friend of mine invited me out for a meal but couldn't tell me which day it'd be on; finally she texted on a Saturday asking if I was up for it but - even then - that she would call later with the time.

I've wrestled with uncertainty all term, never quite sure what I'm meant to be doing or whether what I am doing is, actually, that which I am meant to be doing. Or not. But, looking through the uncertainty goggles, perhaps it simply doesn't matter. Perhaps you should just do what you do and see what happens; it won't be the end of the world if it doesn't work out. And, after all, it can't 'go wrong' because no one said what would be 'right' in the first place!

Probably.