Stressing about Stress

Today in our session on cultural change and adjustments as we move to China, we talked about what things stress us out (especially at this point), how we react, and what helps us get over it or process it.  It is so good to be forced to think about, although it honestly does add a bit of stress, oddly enough.

So what do I do here in the States when I have a bad day.  

1 - Drink a Snapple.  I don't know if it's the flavor, the random facts, or the great memories from teaching over the past few years, but Snapple really does make everything better.  I have instant Snapple powder to take with me, so at least I'll have a bit of it with me when I relocate.

2 - Call a friend.  Sometimes this friend is in the same time zone, sometimes they're on the other side of the world.  Oh wait, I can still do that when I'm in Chengdu.  Thank the Lord for the internet!

3 - Find out where my friends are and get to wherever that is as soon as possible.  There is something about friends that makes everything better, even if we just sit around and watch TV.

4 - Kick a soccer ball...against a ceiling...with semi-excessive force.  Now I haven't really done this since Ethiopia days, but boy oh boy it was effective.  I wonder if my school will have a gym with a high enough ceiling for this...

I'm sure there are more, but can't think of them at the moment.  Thankfully, most of these do translate.  It'll be interesting what gets added to the list in the next six months or year.

 

 Oh my goodness, I almost forgot to say Happy 4th of July!  Hope it's a great one, wherever you are and wherever you're from.

Location: Houghton, New York

Local Time (EST -- GMT-4): 9:07 a.m. (7/2/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 6:07 a.m. (7/2/2012)

Chengdu Time (CST -- GMT+8): 9:07 p.m. (7/3/2012)