Greetings! I have officially touched down in America. It couldn't feel better to be home. To my dismay I have realized that I failed to share much about my life in China. I am going to attempt to cover some more of my bases although I have returned.
Its funny how a place that was once so foreign & strange to me so naturally became my home. I no longer found things to be so startling & simply found them as a understandable way of life. Easily my favorite part of China was being able to actually live there. Breaking that tourist mold & having a place I called "home" was what made my experience so neat. Anyone can hop from place to place & get a feeling for how things are but it isn't until you really settle down that you see the true beauty of the area.
I'm a strong believer that places are as neat as the people who dwell upon them. China was no exception to this rule. The people are absolutely AMAZING. I've said it before & I will say it again I was overly impressed by the hospitably & love that the people showed me. They simply have so much good radiating from them. Not only did the people that I know shower me in love & good deeds but so often strangers would show kindness towards me. It was the simple things like having a stranger motion to me that my bag was unzipped on the bus or having someone hand over the fruit they just purchased just because I'm a foreigner that attested to their loveliness. I never once felt afraid while alone in town or worried that someone would take advantage of me..
I'm a China super fan & surely think that moving there was the best decision I've ever made. I've learned more in the last five months than I have in the last nineteen years of my life. I find it necessary to share some of the random things I will miss about China.
I will miss..
-People sleeping in the strangest of places.
-Mangosteens.
-Washy Washy & all my wonderful friends that work there.
-Squatters. I never thought I would say that but I actually prefer them now.
-Street BBQ.
-Getting loads of stuff off Taobao [super cheap online shopping].
-Pagodas everywhere.
-People always squatting & chillin so hard outside all day every day.
-Going to visit the ritzy areas.
-The occasional delicious meals at the school. [I've also become A LOT less picky about what I eat thanks to China.]
-Seeing so much stuff in such small areas.
-Going to the park to do "Chinese Zumba" with the grandmas, play ping pong & watch the rollerbladers/basketball players.
-Oolang tea smoothies & all my favorite treats
-KTV & going crazy with all the plastered folks.
-Rickshaws & motor taxis.
-Always having dinner with my kiddos & their families.
-The use of bamboo for everything.
-Fresh fruit.
-Seeing the Asian Justin Bieber everywhere.
-Eating every meal with chopsticks.
-Wandering throughout our city, especially on my runs.
That's the basics. Too-da-loo!
