Home

It's over now.  My beautiful 3+ weeks in America have passed and I'm on my way back to China right now.  It couldn't have been a better trip home.  It was SO much more than I expected in a very, very good way.

I was welcomed home after 30 hours of traveling by my family & Evan.  It felt so weird to see them in person and not through a computer.  It kind of freaked me out for the first hour.  After that I was ok.  I had my moments with other things though.  Target gave me my first culture shock moment.  I teared up while holding 6 boxes of mac & cheese.  I had another moment at Walmart when I saw their chip aisle. The culture shock I thought I would have didn't happen.  It could have been that I prepared myself enough that I didn't feel it as much, but it was definitely not like I was expecting.  Driving happened on day 2 and thankfully that went very well.  

My awesome sister got me a ticket for the Color Vibe.  It was my first 5k.  I don't run.  It's not something I enjoy.  I thought I would die, but it was easy.  It helps when people are throwing colored powder at you the whole way.  

I got to have lunches & dinners with people, coffee dates, random run-ins.  I made a few trips out of town to go visit people.  Had a few opportunities to speak in clubs and show some pictures.  

Jet lag didn't hit me!  I think I was so excited that I was running on adrenaline for 3 weeks.  I probably averaged 6 hours of sleep a night.  Right now I feel exhausted.  Part of that is from the 15 hour flight I just had and the holding back tears because I hate saying goodbye.  I landed in HK at 5:30 this morning (China time) and it feels like it is exactly that.  My day is far from over though.  2 more flights and who knows what else.  Rest will come... eventually.

Bac to my trip though.  My family took a little trip to SF and went to the Japanese Tea Gardens and the Botanical Gardens across from that (all in Golden Gate Park).  We, or I, had never been there so that was nice.  [The weather when I was home was incredible.  It only rained once, and for the most part was beautiful with cloudless, blue skies.]

My mom's side of the family came over every Tuesday for family dinners.  It was such a great way to see all of them multiple times while I was home.  The second week, my sister and mom helped me make Chinese food.  It was pretty good.  There's something about Chinese food in China that is just so much better.  I made the same stuff there that I did at home, but it's better there, or here I guess.  I am excited for my morning street-side baozi and my random jiaozi stops.  Mmm-mmm.

I had my first wine tour & tasting also.  That was exciting!  We went to this massive castle.  It was gorgeous.  That day was one of my favorites at home.  Almost every day was great, but that one was a little better than most.

I spoke at a few 'clubs'.  That was fun.  I think I'm almost over my fear of public speaking.  Hopefully these next 6 months will cure it completely.

I wish I had more time to see people and do things, but the longer I stayed the more settled I became.  I really wish I got to spend more time at the studio though.  It felt so good to go back there.  I even got to teach!  I can't wait to spend lots of time there when I move back.  After saying goodbye I walk out and see this.  Then they ran to the other door and waved as I drove by.  I hate driving and trying not to cry.  It's a safety hazard.  That's what they do to me though.

It was a good trip home.   9 more hours (if things go as planned) and I'll be back in LC and up to who knows what.  I'd like it to be sleep, but it won't be.  I have my camera on me though, so I'm ready for adventures... then sleep.  My body feels so confused right now.  It's 4 pm at home, 8 am here and I kind of feel like it's 5 am and I never went to sleep.  I slept about 3/4 of the flight here.  It was off and on, but 7 of those hours I'd just wake up to change how I was sitting (yay for window seats!!!!!!!).  The man who threw up somewhere around me woke me up though.  THAT was not pleasant.

Chinese New Year kicks off on the 10th, but might be starting tonight for me.  My goal is to get rest, and go find adventures (in a safe way, don't worry).  There will be posts to come and I'm hoping plenty of pictures to accompany them.

Thank you so much to everyone who paused their lives to spend a little time with me.  For those that I didn't get to see, I'm sorry.  Once I get home, we'll make up for that.

Keep yarping for my next 2 flights please!  And that I adjust back ok.  (I'm a bit worried that culture shock might hit and I really don't want that to happen). 

Coming Home

The secret seems to be out... I'm coming home!!!! (For a visit).

I've been counting down the weeks for the past 3 months and now it's down to just a few (hopefully short) days.  Am I excited?  Yes!  Nervous?  Yup.  I have a lot running through my head about it all.

The end of this semester completely wore me out.  I was just tired from everything.  Then the Americans came and that was the best thing ever, but I pushed myself a lot physically.  It was all worth it, but that last week was just a lot.  I've been sick since then.  I think I'm pretty much over it.  This week I've been sleeping in, watching lots of Psych & Once Upon A Time, cooking again, packing, cleaning.  It's been wonderful.  I finally feel rested and recharged.

This week has been SO needed.  I knew if I came home sick & tired that I would associate that with being here and it would make coming back really difficult.  When I'm tired I get annoyed easily and I start seeing the negative sides to being here rather than the positives.  Now that I'm rested, I realize that even though I'll only be gone for a few weeks, I'm going to miss it.  I really, really do love it here.  I love it so much that I'm cutting my time home short so I can come back here for Spring Festival (Chinese New Year).  If I get 1 year in China, there is NO way that I'm missing out on their biggest holiday.  Also, I would have been home already, but a good friend got married today and after all that she's done for me, I couldn't miss her big day.

The confetti stuff is what remains from the explosion of firecrackers.

We got breakfast!  (SO different from American weddings... not just this, but everything).

Traditional ceremony where the family members are recognized by the couple.

The bride & groom arriving at his family's home (followed by about 6 other black cars).

Groom, bride, her sis-in-law and brother.  

The beautiful bride and me!  

So the big day is coming and it's all I can think about.

I can't wait...
To be in my house.
Eat tons of food that I haven't had in the last 6 months. 
Wear cute clothes (yup, that is something to be very excited about).
Go to club with tons of 'family members' around me
Go to a store and be able to ask for things in complete english sentences and not have to look words up on my phone.
TARGET.
But most of all, just to spend time with the people that I've missed so much.  I don't care if we just sit in a room and say nothing; just being around them is all I need.  For a few weeks people won't just be a picture in a screen and that's going to be the best Christmas/birthday gift ever.

Coming home does mean culture shock though.  I already have it pretty bad when I'm home after being here for 3 weeks.  It's been over 6 months now so we'll see how that goes.  I've thought of plenty of things that will be different.  Plenty.  Some will make me laugh, some will probably overwhelm me, some will make me angry, some will scare me, some will be very nice and comforting.  It's going to be a fun mix.

In America:

1. Toddlers wear diapers and don't have slits in their pants so they can just squat where they want. (pro)
2. People don't put toilet paper on the table to use as a napkin. (neutral)
3. Spitting and smoking indoors aren't acceptable. (pro)
4. Delicious street food isn't on every corner. (con)
5. There are stores where you can get almost everything you want... like Target. (pro)
6. Shopping for clothes is SO much easier. (pro)
7. People don't order multiple dishes to just share.  Everyone gets their own thing. (con)
8. People speak english (pro - for convenience)
9. It's not legal to put 13 people in an 8 passenger van. (con... it's fun that way)
10. People don't stare at me because I'm white. (Oh wait, yeah they do because I'm REALLY white... just not like they do here).

Pros & cons.  I've got even more but don't feel like listing them ALL.  We'll see how it all measures up.  I'm prepared for the negatives of being home and I'm scared that leaving again will be even harder.  For round 2 I know what I'm getting into though.  I know where I'm living, how to live, more language than I did when I came here, what I want to accomplish.  I have friends here.  I get to dance here.  I LOVE the food.  There are a lot of great things I get to come back to.  The best part?  This will be my last goodbye.  Next time I jump on the series of planes to make the million hour journey back to America, I'll be staying for quite a while.

I might post while I'm home.  I highly doubt it though  If you read this, you're probably going to see me at some point.  Weird isn't it?

See you soon America!

Let Them Rejoice

"In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of [the Father] over one sinner who repents."

Let the angels rejoice then, because I have a new sister!

One of the girls I've been learning with since the beginning of the term has made so many statements in the last few weeks that I just had to meet up with her before we both left for the break.  I had to know where she was at.  I don't want to list all of the details on here, I'll do that when I'm home.  The details don't even matter in the long run.  We have a new sister; a beautiful woman who is already inspiring me with her dedication and her joy.

I left her with some things to read and made sure to speak over her and her family as she gets ready to head home for about 2 months.  I cannot wait to dig deeper with her when we both come back for next term.

No matter what happened this year, I knew I'd leave feeling like I'd done what I was supposed to do.  This though, this is a huge cherry on top of an already delicious sundae.  It might actually be the whole sundae and everything else is just the cherry on top.  I like cherries, so I would have been fine with just that, but who is going to complain about a whole sundae coming with it?  NOT ME!

Goodbye 2012

I cannot even express what a boost of mental energy this group has been for me.  Although I'm even more exhausted than I was a week ago, I am having a blast and am enjoying every minute.  I'm catching a cold, but it'll go away soon enough.  Sleep will come in a few days.

I am done with my first semester!  All I have to do is turn in grades and that will only take me a few minutes.  The only obligation I have is dance class on Wednesday and that isn't an obligation at all.  I feel so free!!!! Haha.  It's a beautiful thing.

In the past few days the group, my students and I have done so much it feels like.  We have had shopping adventures, eaten plenty of local food, watched a New Years performance at the lake - Gangnam Style included - and this morning we climbed the mountain in town.  The mountain is about 3,000 steps.  Sitting down right now feels like paradise!

Some of the American girls came to my dance class on Wednesday and we had a blast!  S Club 7 provided us with an adorable jazz song and we did some tap too.  I love being able to dance again!

The lake here is incredible.  I posted pictures on my facebook a while ago but this time I got to go there with my actual camera. It was already dark so I didn't get good pictures of the lake.  When we got there we happened to get to see a huge performance.  The place was filled with locals.  There were lots of traditional minority dances and they even had a huge group do Gangnam Style.  It was fantastic!  After that we walked around the lake.  I managed to get a sweet group picture of every person that came! Self timer rocks!  We have been all about group pictures and I am all for being photographer.  It's so much fun.  My students have opened up so much and it is just getting me even more excited for next semester.

When we came back we saw lanterns in the air, so we bought 2 of them.  Only one worked though, but hey, it worked!  It had Kung Fu Panda on it!  We all signed it and were able to watch it float on into the night.

This morning was the big hike.  We left at 8:30 this morning and got back at 1:30.  5 hours of walking! Almost 3,000 steps up, and back, plus the 20-30 minute walk there.  I can't believe I made it to the top. My legs are going to fall off tomorrow.  One of the guys couldn't come.  He's pretty sick right now.  Yarp for him!  They only have 2 days left here and I hope they can all finish here and travel back in good health.

Tonight we're meeting up for dinner and we're having a big sleepover at their hotel.  I love having them here.

Last thing:  Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!  I cannot wait to see you and spend lots and lots of time with you!  I love you!

Happy New Year everyone.  I couldn't be ending 2012 any better!  I can't believe this is my life.  I am so blessed.  I'll let you know how the first few hours of 2013 go.  Thank goodness we made it this far ;)