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| I blog. I've just been waiting for something of interest to report - and still - I got nothing. I've been working for the last 4 months. Hooray! I am managing 45 hours a week, but I'm sure my peers would like to see more of me. I tell them that I'm trying to have balance in my life. It's a China thing. It's amazing to me how much of my time is filled up with the most mundane things and how quickly I've adjusted to living here. Always looking forward to the weekends (Friday and Saturday) which pass too soon...and then it's back to the grind. We just put a coffee shop in at my work, so there are espresso, drip, brewed or french pressed coffees available on demand. And wouldn't you know it - I've given up drinking coffee for 3 months. It's a little like torture....I can smell the beans from my desk. But I just drink my tea and remind myself how much more energy I have without it. I know we'll be reunited soon. Taking theology classes on Monday nights and Chinese classes on Wednesdays - just for fun. Other than that, I don't know what else I'm doing with my time - but it always feels like I'm booked up. I hang out with friends, clean my house, do laundry, go shopping, pay bills, walk the dog, meet people for coffee (or tea), and keep in touch with former students via email. Sounds a little boring - but life is good. Recently (in November) I went to Turkey and Greece with my work. I had not realized the historical significance of these countries and it was cool to visit the very cities I've read about time and again. Turkey reminded me a lot of China culturally and Greece reminded me a lot of the US - except for one thing. All the businesses are closed in the afternoons (nap time) and every other day! I wouldn't mind living there. (One cool thing about my work is that I'm usually the only person there - so I can take a cat nap every once in a while in the green room) "- Our building is beautiful - designed by one of the first woman architects, Julia Morgan. Even though it's over a 100 years old, it's in pretty good shape... just a little dark and creepy sometimes. Miss my China peeps as always! | | |
| Tyler recently pointed out that I no longer live in China and should change my profile on xanga - ouch! And to add insult to injury - I can't figure out how to change the stupid thing. I've been forced to join a metro - what the heck is that? Metro can mean a lot of things these days. It seems like I have to keep telling my friends - "I don't know what you're talking about"...and then follow up with - "what does that mean?" Well I've been officially "back in the US" for 2 months now. I think I'm starting to trip out a little bit - been sportin' the deer in the headlights look. But fortunately I don't start work for a couple more weeks and I can kinda go with it. I am amazed at how many things I have to DO all the time. I've been running a lot of errands in my new car - yeah, baby! (well....new to me anyway). And this weekend I move into my new home (going to rent a house with some friends). I had a welcome home party last weekend - that was fun (we ate Chinese food, of course). It's been a little overwhelming seeing all my family members at once - last Sunday I wore big, dark glasses and didn't speak to a soul, but the Sunday before I was so excited I was practically bouncing off the walls. All in all I'm really happy. Everything is so pretty and CLEAN! I marvel at the mountains and valleys where I live - all burnt from the summer heat. The weather is starting to change and my favorite season is fast approaching. I'm looking forward to spending the holidays here again... Fires in the fireplace. Leaves on the ground. The rain. And yet, I am continuously aware of CHINA. What time it is there....What people might be doing...What some of the needs may be. I am soooo looking forward to a visit this summer. But the reality is that I don't live there anymore. It feels really different and a little sad - like I don't belong or can't relate completely. I don't know exactly - but it's cool. I have a piece of her in my heart and there she will stay. | | |
| Another dreary, rainy day...but I LOVE rainy days. If only I good veg out by a fireplace and read all day - that would be the best! Maybe I should move to the Pacific Northwest where it rains all the time. Not to mention where they drink coffee all the time!!!!
Speaking of coffee - I recently heard from a worker in a huge sell-out coffee conglomerate that their "business" is about to explode in China. They are asking all their workers if they know Chinese or would be willing to relocate for a time. It was very tempting - coffee and China - but I may have to pass.
Today I'm taking my niece, Melanie, to Gatlinburg! They have a haunted mansion that we're going to check out. Oooohhh. She loves scary things. I don't - so I'm hoping it's cheezy scary and not demonic scary.
My sisters' kids rock. I took a couple roadtrips with my niece, Didi. Drank a lot of coffee with my niece, Amber. And saw the goofiest, most juvenile (but hilarious) movies with my nephew, Brad - Ricky Bobby, the Anchorman (had to get the soundtrack afterwards), Little Man and the Health Inspector. He left for college on Monday and in his honor Mel and I went to see, Accepted - cute.
It's been great being able to spend time with all my family from Virginia to Kentucky to Tennessee. Great landscapes, huge houses, yards without fences and such a variety of roadkill. I'm really going to miss this place.
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| I'm sitting in an internet cafe/bar in Beijing near the beloved Central Youth Hostel. It has been raining for days, so I've been forced indoors. My tennis shoes squeek now from walking in puddles up to my knees. The ladies outside are sweeping (with brooms) the water into drains as fast as they can, but it still feels like a flood.
Yesterday I saw Mao's dead body. It's a ramdom tourist attraction I'll admit, but one that was on my list of to-do's during my last week here in BJ. I'd heard that the line went quickly and this was true. It was weird. I don't think it's real - but I could be wrong. The whole time I was standing there I kept thinking of the Left Behind series.
Today WY and I visited a modern art gallery. It was cool. Unfortunately, my friend realized then and there that she hates modern art. Afterwards, we got lost in the hutongs. We ate some amazing Muslim food. For those returning to the Middle Kingdom - try deng pa ji....or something like that. It's chicken, onions, etc. and then they add fresh, homemade noodles to the plate. It's a delish dish.
I leave for the states tomorrow afternoon. I think I'm ready. It's been awesome traveling throughout China the last few weeks, but tiring.
Now, what to do my last night in China?
Maybe a foot massage???
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| So...the comfy 12 hour, soft-sleeper train from Beijing to Xi'an turned out to be a 16 hour train - HARD SEAT! Can I claim braggin' rights for that? Apparently, everyone and their brother began their summer travels on the same day. Why do they limit tickets in the cozy cars but oversell the cattle cars? There were people standing, sitting and laying in every conceivable nook and cranny on that train - which means of course, no bathroom privileges. This is with the exception of the toddler next to us who used the toilet any time he pleased. At one point, maybe 1 am, this man crawls under the seats to sleep. I wanted to warn him what was on that floor but I figure he didn't really care at that point.
I was doing alright for practically the entire trip. I had stayed awake reading or daydreaming so I could sleep when we checked into our hotel in Xi'an. Only 1 hour to go and BAM! our train hits something or something fell off - I don't know. But we stayed on that train for another 3 hours. That's when I started feeling a little cooky. Everyone else remained calm. They know there is nothing they can do, but wait. The American in me started to rise up - I wanted to know what happened, what was being done to solve the problem, what was our new ETA? Right....
Then I started to thinking about what the people experienced during the war...locked up in a cramped train car, no control, no explanations, no bathroom privileges, no privacy, no exit - just utter humiliation and dehumanization. I really can't imagine how horrible that must have been.
But alas, we got off the train. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we are free at last.
And another quote:
"It is for freedom that you have been set us free, so never again take upon you a yoke of slavery".
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