lunch with the Xuan's.

One of my student friends at the hospital found out I was tutoring near her home each morning and invited me to have lunch with her family.

We talked about her beginning the process to immigrate to Ame.rica. (she recently spent 2 months in Cali on a hospital exchange program and has come back fired up about the American lifestyle of fre.edom and awesomness.) It's interesting to hear about the process of actually changing this part of your identity. Crazy, deep, complicated stuff.

I like the nitty gritty conversations I can have with some of my closer student-friends. I learn a lot from them and their perspectives - however varying from my own.

Then this dish showed up on our table...

I took a spoonful and announced my love of it before asking, "What is this?"

"Crab sperm tofu."

"Oh. My favorite."

walk slow. xoxo.

300 months.

I turned 25 today.

Half way to fifty.

Quarter of a century.

The big 2-5.

It was a good day. A normal day, but a good one. I tutored, went for a birthday run on the treadmill, spent the afternoon with a can of beer on a friends couch while stopping by to pick up things she's getting rid of during her upcoming move (dishes!!), and then topped off the evening hanging out with my new friend Addison...

In 24 years and 11 months exactly, she'll be the age that I am today...

This means that while she celebrates her one month birthday I was celebrating my 300 month birthday (31 of which have been spent in China...) It's crazy awesome to me that in the time I've been here I have a friend who arrived single, got married, and has a baby. Being here for all of it was special...

She chilled with me after her bath and I taught her everything she could learn from Auntie Jessica. It was a nice chat, but I think I bored her...

Yay for life. New and well, not so new.

walk slow. xoxo.

Foot Phone!

I've talked the foot massage place manager into "teaching" me Chine.se reflexology. Apart from my desperate need for healthy touch (living in a no-hug culture is rough) and obsession with dirt cheap Ch.inese massage, the foot massage parlor is one of my fave places to practice Chin.ese.

We now can talk almost fluently, so I figured, why not learn massage from a master?! I also don't want to have lived 800 million years in Ch.ina and not learned anything cool (besides the language, of course.) Reflexology, tea culture, acupuncture, Chin.ese cooking...all things I should have some knowledge about after living here for half a century. So, why not start with a fave?

We haven't really started "classes" yet because I have not been able to download the charts he sent me online because I have an Apple computer and Chin.ese internet/programs/life is not conducive to Mac. (I couldn't download the forms).

Last night Rachel and I went in for a good foot rubbing and I brought my USB for them to transfer the charts I have to memorize...

Yikes. haha. I'm hoping that I can get by with learning the names of the pressure points verbally and not having to read the charts in their entirety. Because that might take awhile. I have the reading ability of a fetus.

Anyways, here's me and Rach with Bu Wei, foot massage extraordinaire and patient teacher to over-zealous foreigners...

After our massage, Bu Wei brought out the plastic feet models with pressure points on them. "Oh no, we're having class," I told Rach.

What I thought would be a class turned into a crash course of 4 minutes learning the points on the inside of your foot. These points are connected to our spines. Right under the big toe is the neck, alongside the arch is our spine, and our heal is our butt bone. Cool. I learned how to massage these areas and then our session quickly turned into a photo shoot. (normal).

And I had a sudden flashback to childhood-------

FOOT PHONE!

Did your mom ever do this to you when you were a child? Use your foot as a phone?!?! Well my mom did. All the time. And I forgot about it until last night.

Good memory.

Cheers to reflexology and childhood memories - and how they somehow combined.

walk slow. xoxo.

Here.

Less than ten days ago, I was here...on a cruise ship in Spain with a butler named Johnathon, a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean, daily bread and butter and ice water and sunshine, and most importantly, my family.

Today I am here...being made homemade dumplings for lunch by head nurse Sherry after I finish tutoring her high-school son...

Here where I receive 1am text messages from my hair washers asking me why I haven't gone into the shop to see them since I've been back. (answer: I'm broke).

Here where I pass a man selling live ducks tied to a stick outside Sherry's apartment complex...

Here where I dry heaved on the bus to class this morning because a man was spitting loogies into a napkin in front of me.

Here...where I found a bag of Ukranian candy left for me by a dorm-mate who just returned from a summer trip home...

Here where young grocery store employees pointed and gasped as I meandered by cart by their tea stand. "Look at the white, white foreigner with pretty eyes!"

Here...where I fill this bucket with hot water from the boiler to hand wash my unmentionables...

Here where I live.

I caught myself today thinking about how nice life was a week ago. How comfortable and beautiful everything was. How I dressed nice and didn't sweat through my clothes. How I had an amazing shower and fresh towels. Not in an uber longing way - but in an Hmm...that was really nice, kind of way.

And then I thought about the depth of my life here. Sherry and ducks and hair washers and international community and sacrifice and blessing.

Here. It's all here.

walk slow. xoxo.

no spitting.

So.

Lots happens here. I almost forgot. Every day could be like 800 hilarious blog posts.

But I forget most everything by the time I get home and crash. Oh well.

Ha.

So anyways. I started tutoring 2 high school boys today. It's a short-term gig for the head nurses (Zheng)'s son and nephew before they start school. For the next ten days we will spend 2 hours each morning together.

This morning as I sat across the table from them at Zheng's house and felt happy. Just really happy.

I love teaching.

I love going to Chin.ese peoples houses and sharing with them my life and their lives.

I love teaching English - because through language learning so many ideas and lessons are shared.

I love that after our lesson ended I did not leave for 1.5 hours because we all sat down together and had hand-made noodles. Zheng, her hubby, her son, and nephew and I sat around the table and spoke Ch.inese - our common language.

And then I rode the bus to the gym and realized: I love Chi.nese - the language. Speaking makes me happy, like I'm doing what I'm made to do. (deep).

Truth is, I was expecting the return to Chi.na this time to be very difficult, basically dreading it the whole trip. I thought I would get hit with culture shock and be angry at Ch.ina for being, well, Chi.na.

But I'm not.

In fact, surprisingly, quite the opposite has happened.

My second night back, I was in a taxi with my friend Steph and the driver was all giddy to have us in his car. Our conversation went like this:

Him: Where are you from?

Me: Guess.

Him: Russia?

Me: No. Guess again.

Him: America?

Me: One of us is from America, which one?

Him: Guesses Steph

Steph: Nope, she is, I'm not. I'm from England.

Him: England? But you guys look similiar.

Us: Really? (we look nothing alike, just both white)

Him: But you (points to me) are fatter than her (points to Steph).

(I'm 5'10", Steph is 5'2")

...silence in the cab for a minute...

Him: I mean, you are fat (points to me again), thinking we didn't understand him.

Me: But fatter is more comfortable.

Him: Oh yes, laughs, you are both beautiful.

Us: hehe Thanks, blah blah blah....

Case and point: I was called fat to my face within 24 hours of returning to Ch.ina and I did not rip the guys face off. I laughed with him and felt sympathy for him that he doesn't know better. And that he hadn't eaten 800 Italian pizzas in the last two weeks.

That is progress, people.

I guess my point is that I am thankful that I was able to get away. Thankful that I am dealing a little better, maybe I just needed to get out of my rut. Climb out of my valley.

I know that everyone's life has challenges. Life anywhere else in the world might not be any easier. And frankly, all my dreams are coming true here. I speak Chi.nese. I'm a college professor. I hold orphans on a weekly basis.

So those have been my thoughts lately. Random, but good.

In other news:

I signed a 2 YEAR contract at the gym today. (they were having an amazing sale that has rendered me completely broke, but in the long run saves me dough).

2 YEARS.

It expires October 5, 2013. (And then I'll still need to sign up for another year after that).

That is in like, forever.

I'm here for the long haul.

And if this post couldn't get more random...here's a friendly public reminder courtesy of the Chin.ese gov...

walk slow. xoxo.

ch ch ch changes.

Chi.na is a country that is changing faster than its people can keep up.

For a country that's only been "open" for 30 years, the rapid development (in the cities - not widespread) is crazy fast. (But you know this, just read the news).

In the 3 years I've lived in Hangzhou there have been a zillion noticeable "westernizing" changes. We now have 4 H&M stores, a Coldstone, an IMAX theater, and yogurt. There are import sections in the grocery stores (most with only random assortments of chocolate and alcohol, but hey - better than nothing). I feel like I am witnessing history - living here during a very exciting time for Chi.na. The economy is at rapid fire, but somehow society still lags behind in social norms. (more on this later).

Every time I leave and come back there are changes. Even being gone three weeks, I noticed differences upon my return. There is a new restaurant, "Lotus" where there was a massage place on the end of my street, yogurt went up in price .30, and the never-ending construction on my alley way has resulted in 3 new ditches along my walkpath.

But perhaps the most interesting change in the last 3 weeks is the new murals along the street on my walk to the grocery store.

The murals hint at what I find as Ch.ina's biggest irony - a rapid economic growth with backwards societal practices. People drive BMW's down the road while children are pooping on the sidewalks. (no lie).

But thanks to these public notices, maybe things will change...

Winnie the Pooh is teaching us to say, "hello."

It is not common to use the word, "please" in Chine.se, in fact, it's too formal for most occasions.

the little bunny thing is teaching us to say, "sorry."

I'll keel over and die of shock if this one ever catches on...

and my personal favorite, this one roughly translates to, "Pay attention to public health." (*cough* 6 months on TB pills):

Yes, in a city of 10 million people and in one of the world's next "power" country's, they need to have signs teaching citizens basic manners.

I'll report in if these make a noticeable difference.

walk slow. xoxo.

returned.

Whew.

The last 4 weeks have taken me on a route I never imagined for this summer: Prague - Vienna - Venice - Barcelona - then a Mediterraean cruise to Florence, Rome, Naples, Palma, and back to Barcelona.

I got home last night - lugging my backpack down the alley and up the stairs to my Chi.nese dorm room. It's still sitting on my purple loveseat, packed, draw-string tight around the things that have sustained my travels the last few weeks. I can't bear to open it (mostly because that means I have to do laundry).

Today I enjoyed jet-lag induced sleep and a trip to the gym and grocery store, slowly becoming acquainted again with the cast of characters in my life. The newstand lady looked at me without a smile and said, "you came home."

I looked at her stunned for a second.

"Yes, I came home."

It was one of those trips that take a lot of debrief. Friends and family and foreign countries. Too much goodness to absorb all at once.

I climbed Mount Vesuvius.

Visited the Colossuem.

Explored the ruins of Pompeii.

And now I sit on my twin bed in Chi.na, hurrying to post this before my hot water gets turned off for the night, wondering did that really just happen?

Pictures prove it did.

Here's some pics from my trip post-seeing Hannah and Rae in Prague and pre-cruise:

nightly free opera movies projeted onto City Hall in Vienna, Austria...

masks in Venice, Italy...
was in l-o-v-e with the Italian sky-line...

when you're on a budget, you're on a budget, Equity Point Hostal, Barcelona, Spain...

schnitzel in Vienna, Austria...

"I lift my eyes up, to the heavens...." Vienna...

waiting for our parents at the Barcelona airport...

boarding the Vienna - Venice express train...

first day in Venice...

pizza. love.

reunited!!! waiting to board the cruise...

I miss my fam so much it hurts. But seeing them and having such an adventure was amazing.

I'm overwhelmingly thankful for the friend time, family time, adventure time that this summer turned into. I feel refreshed. Thankful. Ready for another year of Chi.na-livin.

Like my newstand lady said...I came home.

walk slow. xoxo.