bodily fluids.

I know what you're thinking.

"So Jessica? How ya been?" 

Ok, maybe you're not thinking that, but I'm going to answer you anyways, fellow internet user. 

And I'll answer you in story form. Just for fun. 

Today I did not have to visit any students and was overwhelmed by the open day. I had lunch with a friend, sat in a coffee shop reading a text book on Confucian whatnots and then got really hungry and went across the street for some take-out dumplings. 

The day was gorgeous, the sky was blue, and I was wearing my favorite spandex capris. Fabulous. As I walked the mile home, I kept reaching into my cardboard dumpling box and grabbing the dumplings one by one. Each squishy, warm pocket of egg and tomato making my hunger disappear bit by bit and my mood rise even greater as my blood sugar levels returned to normal. 

I rounded the corner to my neighborhood as I shoved the last dumpling into my mouth and smiled to myself a little bit. I was full (slightly over-full), but it was a good contrast to the hunger I was experiencing 30 minutes before. 

Just as the last mooshy dumpling hit my stomach, I heard her doing it. 

I shouldn't have looked. 

But the 102 year old grandma blowing snot rockets out her nose into the shrubbery in plain site was unavoidable as I passed through my alley. 

For a split second I thought I could hold it together. 

But out they came. 

Every last dumpling. Onto the pavement. Some still even recognizable as dumplings. (I need to chew better, apparently). 

She stared at me while still leaning over the bushes, fingers pinching her nose.

I stared at her while leaning over with my hands on my knees, my face a mixture of laughter and disgust. 

After a few seconds, we both walked on in our seperate directions. Both having left our bodily fluids in the alleyway. 

This true story of my afternoon is a great analogy for how I handle being a long-term resident of Chi.na. Most of the time I can hold it together - sometimes though, you gotta let it out. Then keep on walking. 

So....how are you? 

walk slow. xoxo.