Bugs

There are times when I think bugs are really cool.  I mean let's face it, God made some pretty awesome critters.  Maybe it's because my roommate is a 1st grade teacher, but I have been noticing some crazy awesome bugs lately!  There was the flat green one on the side walk the other day...the cricket-like cockroach in the grocery store parking lot today, and of course the jumping spiders in my classroom.  Oh wait, let's not talk about them.  (Don't worry, the shoe marks on the wall are proof that I killed them all real quick!)

There is one type of bug that I hate.  Well, I probably hate more, but right now I just passionately hate one type of bug.  The only problem is that I have no idea what bug it is.  I'm hoping it's not the dreaded bed bug (insert loud and drawn out *gasp* here), but at the moment that is my only lead.  My legs are getting bitten up BAD, and when I say BAD, and mean REALLY BAD.  Every day there is a new pattern of little red bumps that clearly have some sort of bug as the source.  Don't get me wrong, I love trying to figure out what pattern/picture the bug had in mind when I wake up in the morning, but getting the bites and having bugs living somewhere in my house with me is no beuno.

So what do I do, you might be wondering?  Well, after watching 30+ minutes of YouTube how-to's on getting rid of bed bugs, I took a shower, sprayed myself down with bug-spray, and went to bed.  I'm a teacher and tomorrow is the first day of school...I don't have time to deal with these critters.  I might be able to pencil them in sometime next weekend.  We'll see.

Oh the joys of being me :/


 

Location: Chengdu, China
Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 8:14 p.m. (8/13/2013)
Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 5:14 a.m. (8/13/2013)

356.

I realize that I haven’t been the best at keeping up with my blog.  There are a handful of reasons, the most likely/plausible of them all is that life gets busy and I get lazy when I have time that could be used to write.  I have all of the time in the world this weekend, though, and so I write.

I have lived in China now for almost a year.  356 days to be exact.  For the past 356 days, I have called China home.  For 356 days I have said “Xie xie” more often than “Thank you.”  For 356 days I have learned to make due without a space bubble, especially when standing in line.  For 356 days I have driven a scooter more often than I have been in a car.  For 356 days I have taken public transportation regularly and confidentially in one of the world’s largest cities.  356 days.  Wow.

This weekend, in celebration of those 356 days, I am taking a break from life as I know it here in Chengdu and have splurged a little: I’m staying in the Sheraton.  I can sit in my room on the 30^th floor and watch the city below me from a healthy distance.  The blaring car horns and bustling streets are distance echoes from my perch.  I can watch the rain and not worry about being caught in it (I don’t intend to leave my hotel until check-out on Monday, after all).  I almost feel like Rapunzel up in her tower, however I have absolutely no intention of letting down my hair and letting someone into my little retreat.

As a part of my little retreat, I’ve been reading quite a few of the books that I’ve been stockpiling on my Kindle for such a time as this.  I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but many of those books happen to be about some aspect of the TCK life.  As I sit and peer through the windows that these books are into the lives of other adults with childhoods like mine, I can’t help but be so thankful for who I am, where I am, and where I inevitably will some day go.  Let’s think about it for a minute together, shall we?

My first memories are of hiding under the baby-grand piano in our living room with my brother, crafting little snakes and other sculptures out of modeling clay and hiding them on the little ledge that lined that musical masterpiece.  A fairly normal memory, right?  Wrong. We lived in rural Rwanda in the early 90’s, a land that was in turmoil and soon to be thrown into an even more extreme state of disaster.  I was oblivious to the dangers, though, as I lived out an idyllic childhood in my land of a thousand hills.  I seem to remember a little nook in the tree where we had a tire-swing that was an equally marvelous hiding place.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself in my completely unfamiliar homeland: Washington State.  The people were familiar and actually looked like me for a change, but the culture was so backwards from my vantage point.  They didn’t want you to climb the trees by restaurants?  What are the trees for then?   Why couldn’t we eat with our hands?  Where were the grasshuts?  Why didn’t they have dolls that looked like my friends (white dolls just didn’t do it for me)?  While my seven years as a American living in the United States were essential for my crooked sense of home, there were many times that I felt like a bit of a cultural refugee.  I wasn’t meant to be there.  It wasn’t my home.  My home had been torn apart by war, so I was simply biding my time until my parents declared that we would be moving back.  How can you settle when that is what your mind is telling you?  You can’t…you really can’t.

Finally, in August of 2000, we moved back home.  Now this time home turned out to be Ethiopia rather than our former central-African surroundings, but it was home all the same.  I quickly learned to love macchiatos, injera, and shirro watt.  I learned how to read the language that first year and found myself with a new code to use when writing down personal thoughts or ideas.  I lived in a city of 4.5 million that was at my fingertips.  I always felt safe.  And I was different again…blissfully different.  Blending in while living in the US always felt so foreign to me.  Being at home meant being odd, and I was so comfortable there.

After three years in Ethiopia followed by two-years in boarding school in Kenya, I found myself at a terrifying crossroads: that between high school and college.  For any 17 or 18 year-old, this time is an adventure.  For me, it was an adventure that was coupled with the great loss of everything that I had known.  As I flew out of the Nairobi airport in July of 2005, I felt my heart leave my body.  I’m still not sure if it’s completely back, although pieces of it have returned over the past 8 years.  I left my homeland and knew that every time I returned would not be the same as it was.  I was leaving a river that was going to keep flowing without me.

College had its string of ups and downs, followed by three years of living back in Washington State and attempting to get back in touch with my roots.  I was thankful for many friendships, new and old, that I was able to cultivate and the family members that I was able to grow close to again, but something still felt off.  I was becoming comfortable in a place that I didn’t truly belong.  I could blend in most of the time, apart from those conversations when I let my true colors shine through and everyone around me realized just what an odd duck I was.

And then came China.  It was an idea that I was completely opposed to at first, but eventually the appeal of the adventure outweighed the fear of the unknown.

And here I am.  A part of my heart that was silent for 7 years in the US is back.  I’m odd again.  I don’t fit.  I can’t understand 99% of what is going around me.  It is impossible to buy a DQ ice cream cake or run out for Taco Bell.  And yet, I’m happy. Of course there are hard days, but everyone has those no matter where in the world you are.

This is home.

Who knows if this is merely the first of two years in China that I have completed and if I’ll jet set to another foreign location in a year for another adventure.  Or maybe this is the first of twenty years.  Either way, I’m thrilled to be here and so thankful for each of you who are going through it with me, near or far.

Happy 356 days!

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 9:52 a.m. (7/28/2013) 

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 6:52 p.m. (7/27/2012)

Fears

I guess it's safe to say that I don't really blog anymore.  There were a few reasons that I fell off of that update wagon, but I'm back now so no more need to worry that I've died or disappeared (if you were in fact worried)!

There is only one week left in my first school-year as an international school teacher.  Only one more week with my precious students that have grown to adore so much!  I have been so blessed!

It is so surreal to realize that a year ago I didn't know any of the people that I would be working with this year.  A year ago, there were endless possibilities before me coupled with even more endless unknowns.  All I knew was that I was moving to China.  I had no idea what the city would be like, if there would be blue sky, if I would like the setting, if I would be able to learn Chinese at all, if I would make friends, and so many other minute details.  Fear became very real, but with it was a great pile of excitement for the adventure that I was going on.  An adventure that I chose and could claim as my own.

I'm so thankful for this adventure, and so thankful that you've been willing to encourage me along the way!

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 2:08 a.m. (6/2/2013)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 11:08 a.m. (6/1/2013)

Yipes...

I just realized I haven't blogged since Chinese New Year break.  Oopsie.  There are a few reasons (er....excuses) that I shall share with you now:

1 - Life is crazy busy.
2 - School is crazy busy.
3 - I am crazy busy.
4 - Some crazies have been accessing my blog and I don't want them to know anything about me.
5 - As a result of #4 I haven't wanted to write anything.

As a result of all of this, I am going to start password protecting my blog.  You can still read it, you'll just have to ask me for permission.  Maybe it makes me feel powerful, maybe it makes me feel safe, but whatever the reason that is what it shall be.

Okay, enough for now.  Will write for real in a few weeks!

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8)  9:35 p.m. (3/27/2013)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 6:35 a.m. (3/27/2013)

Wǒ shì měiguó rén

I had quite the conversation with a stranger today while waiting for the bus.  I’m going to share it with you because I actually understood it.  This is a major accomplishment.  And it was a little funny, so here goes…

Random stranger in a snazzy silver suit who was standing in front of me in line: “Nǐ shì àodàlìyǎ rén ma?” (Are you Australian?)

Me: “Duìbùqǐ, wǒ de zhōngwén bù hǎo.  Qĭng màn diăr.” (Sorry, my Chinese isn’t good.  Please speak a little slower.)

Stranger: “Nǐ shì àodàlìyǎ rén ma?” (Are you Australian?)

Me: “Wǒ bùshì àodàlìyǎ rén. Wǒ shì měiguó rén.” (I’m not Australian.  I’m American.)

Stranger: “Nǐ bùshì měiguó rén. Nǐ shì àodàlìyǎ rén.” (You’re not American.    You’re Australian.)

Me: "Wǒ bùshì. Wǒ shì měiguó rén."  (I’m not.  I’m American.)

Stranger: "Tā shì měiguó rén. Nǐ shì àodàlìyǎ rén." (Nods towards my friend.  She is American.  You are Australian.)

Me: "Oh.  Ok." (Oh.  Ok.)

And then we got on the same bus and stopped talking.   This conversation jazzed me (to use RVA lingo for the first time on this blog) for several reasons…

Reason A: He would not take my word for it.  To him, apparently, I am Australian.

Reason B: How could anyone think I am Australian?  Don’t get me wrong, I take it as a compliment, but seriously?  Have you heard me speak?  Have you ever been to Australia?

Reason C: How is it that now, after having visited Australia, that this suddenly happens?  It must be my glowing tan…hahaha…

Reason D: I understood the conversation!!!!  Yes, it’s lesson 1 Chinese…but still!  Woot woot…go me!

I'd like to thank Google translate for helping me with the tones :)

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 11:04 p.m. (2/11/2013)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 7:04 a.m. (2/11/2013)

A few questions rolling through my head...

My mind is so often filled with questions. Sometimes I ask them, and sometimes I don't, but eihter way they are still there. So, in the spirit of trying to blog more, I'm going to write some of them here and just throw them out into the void. Answer if you'd like to, but feel free to just ponder away like I have been and will continue to about them...

Why is it that I use my backpack more now than I ever did as a student? I don't know where I'd be without it! Weird.

Why do traditional definitons only allow the use of the term "best friend" in reference to one person? My life would be so strange if I only had one!

When is the point where you stop adapting and start changing the world around you rather than changing yourself? Not necessarily in merely a spiritual sense, but in a physical and transformational sense, as well.

How can people commit so easily to a place? The thought of staying somewhere longer than a few years is so against everything I know. It is such a nice thought, but in reality it is so difficult after such a transient life.

Why does it get cold again just when I thought things were warming up?

Why do we have middle names in some cultures? How did that start??

Okay, enough of that...

Crazy with a side of reality

It is amazing how quickly time flies, whether the result of busy work or a relaxing vacation. Since I last wrote, which is amazingly almost a month ago now, I have visited a brand new country/continent, celebrated a new year in a new place, and tackled three weeks of a new semester successfully. Hopefully sometime soon I will have a chance to write more about life these days, but for now know that I am alive and well! I will be sending out my newsletter in the next week or so, and if you'd like to receive it, please just comment with your email address, which only I will see. Have a lovely Wednesday/week!

Christmas Down Under

Written January 4th

Well, another year is over and another yet another vacation has come and gone, during which I forgot to blog. I spent the last two weeks in Melbourne, Australia, with Teresa and Wray. Tes was my roommate at boarding school in Kenya and Wray is a good friend from during my time at RVA as well.

There's something so wonderful about spending time with friends like these two. First of all, I've known them for more than a year, which trumps 99.9% of the people that I spend my time with these days. They also get me. They get the confusion, the geographical displacement, and the uncertainty that fills me when I think about long term plans or settling down in one place. It is so nice to be understood, to not have to worry about what they think or how they will respond to something odd that I say, and to just be able to relax. While I feel at home and comfortable in Chengdu, this vacation was a welcome reprieve from reality.

My time in Australia was filled partially with being a tourist, but more so with just relaxing and enjoying friends. I spent three days at the beach, a day on the Great Ocean Road, a day in the city of Melbourne enjoying the sights, a day visiting an animal sanctuary that only has animals native to Australia, and an evening ringing in the New Year with thousands of others in downtown Melbourne. All in all, it was pretty much the perfect vacation.

And now it's back to Chengdu with me, geared up and ready for whatever adventures this next quarter might bring.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Life Lessons at Airports

As yet another vacation begins, I'm always amazed by the little life lessons that seem to rush my way during times when I assume that my mind will be given a break.  In the spirit of ensuring that my newly gleamed knowledge is not wasted on just little old me, I'm going to share a few of the tidbits that I've picked up today…

1 - Packing for your destination is not always the way to go.  I'm sitting in the Chengdu airport, Terminal 1 (the terminal for domestic flights), freezing my fingers off as I wait for the first in my string of flights as I head to Australia for Christmas.  I was only supposed to be in the airport for an hour.  If my flight takes off at it's newly intended time, I will be here for four.  My fingers are turning a lovely shade of blueish-purple and my toes are grateful that I opted for sneakers instead of my customary travel-ware of flip flops.  My roommate did suggest that I take my coat for when I get back in January...

2 - Roommates are always right.  (See tidbit number 1.)

3 - Traveling with a roller bag and an airport full of Turkish Toilets (a.k.a. squatty-potties) is not the best combination.  Apparently women don't travel alone in China…and if they do they don't believe in roller carry-ons. (Note to self: pack lighter)

4 - Learn Chinese.  Although I've always felt semi-sympathetic to travelers in the United States who didn't speak English and just wanted to know something significant about their flight that is apparently delayed but they don't know anything more than that the number they worked hard to memorize was mentioned over the loud speaker, I've never felt as sympathetic as I do today.  I was so proud of myself for realizing that it was my flight that they were talking about, and then so irritated when I couldn't catch anything past those numbers. (The word for 4 has been tough for me…I finally recognize it!  I know, I know…it's been 4 months and I am just now comfortable with the word for 4.  So sue me.)  The gate attendant was less than helpful, at which point I told him to find someone who spoke English (in fairly good Chinese, mind you).   He then told me the same thing he was telling everyone else in Chinese…which was super helpful.  Ugh.  I am so not from around here…

5 - Lighters that are shaped like guns are frowned upon at airports.  My roommate was, once again, right.

6 - Just because you are traveling doesn't mean you should take the tea-bags out of your purse.  I brought my travel mug…just not any hot drink mixes to go with it.  Crystal Light is delicious no matter what temperature it is (thank the Lord for single serving packets), but it is just a little strange to be drinking a peach mango ice tea in hot water.  Just saying…

7 - There are may things that I will do as an American that Chinese people will not typically do.  Sitting on the floor next to the nearest outlet is definitely one of them.

Oiy vai.  Time to take another nap…or watch a Christmas movie…

Location: Somewhere between Chengdu and Guangzhou, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 3:42 a.m. (12/22/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-8): 11:42 a.m. (12/21/2012)

Loss

One of the sorrows of life on the move and around the world is having a large group of friends and acquaintances, all who feel a bit more like family than many might think possible.  I have experienced great loss within that group of world-wide family over the past few years, during this time of year in particular, it seems.

One year ago today, one of my dearest friends passed away.  Anne was one of those people that everyone loved; one of those wonderful souls who added a splash of pizzaz to life.  Anne and I were close during middle school in Ethiopia and then lost contact with each other as a result of distance (she moved to Central America as I was transitioning to boarding school in Kenya) and time.  Two years ago, Anne and her husband were stationed to the military base near where I lived in Auburn, and as a result we were reunited once again.  Whether it was a weekend of concerts, a quick meal in the middle, or an evening/day of our favorite movies, times with Anne were cherished moments.  She was a ray of sunshine on the cloudiest of days; the Anne to the Dianna and the Merilla to my Rachel.  You will always be missed, my dear friend!

BFFs in Northern Ethiopia - 2001

They say that time heals any wound, but with this one I am a bit skeptical...

Sorry for the downer.  On a positive note, it's 12-12-12!  Enjoy it while you can :)

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 8:40 p.m. (12/12/12)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-8): 4:40 a.m. (12/12/12)