Missing China . . .

Well, dear readers, this will be the very last post about my year in China. Alas, I have moved and moved on, although I really can say I do miss my life in China. I had this post written out a long time ago, but I haven't wanted to post it--it's too final, finished, done. Sad. I miss my dear friends who are now scattered pretty much everywhere! It's strange, though. I know I was just in China less than three months ago, but it feels like a very very long time ago--a lifetime ago! Scary. I don't want to forget! I had such a year--not without it's challenges and frustrations, but I now feel like I can do anything, live anywhere, and I'd be OK. Hey, I've lived in China--what else you got???

It was quite the adventure finally getting home. I was sooo sad to be saying goodbye, but soooo excited to be coming home. Of course, it's ALWAYS the coming home part that takes forever and somehow, I always end up in some random airport because they can't get me home until the next day. Oh yeah, that happened to me this time too! I was stuck in LAX (on my birthday, no less) and had a heck of a flight from PVG to LAX---my flight was delayed because of the rain, which caused me to miss my connecting flight. Also, my roommate and I were supposed to travel home together, but the flights got mixed up and she had to take a different flight. It was awful! We had to part ways at the counter, and she was crying and the mean counter person continued to be mean and insist he couldn't do anything. (I hate China Eastern and will never ever fly them again). However, we did end up meeting up again at the LAX airport, which was fun for me to casually say "Hey, I know you" and we hugged and cried even more!
Alas, the airline couldn't do anything for me except to rebook my flight--this is after I hauled all my luggage (yup, paid twice for one overweight and extra suitcase--totally worth it), went through customs (no prob) and talked with twenty million people who look like they can help you but they really can't. Nope, no flights, all booked, blah, blah, blah. ARGH. Those are the times I absolutely hate flying. Anyway, I finally made my way to special services (again, all my luggage--if you've been to LAX, you know how much fun it is to walk twenty miles to your proper gate, etc. esp. international to domestic). I stood in line forever, and even let someone cut in front of me (close to tears at that point and didn't care) and you guessed it--they couldn't do anything!!!! They gave me a nice hotel room and booked me on a flight to Memphis and then Detroit for the next day. BOOOOOO.
My stay in the hotel was a good chance for me to reflect, especially as I was able to drink water directly from the faucet, watch TV in English, and not see a million Asian people everywhere. Oh, I miss them!!! Not the spitting, though. Nope, I will never miss that.
The things I will miss:
My students (ok, some, possibly most of them:)
Science and Tech Fake Market (never actually made it to the actual museum, just the shopping complex)
BARGAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eating a bucket of KFC chicken with Diane (Never eat it in the U.S. but you make exceptions overseas)
Friday night movie nights--getting DVDS off the street
Lounging around the apartment on the weekends
Foot massages (Sooo goood, soooo cheap)
my wonderful IKEA futon mattress (I was SAD to leave that behind)
my little apartment (now being watched over by Chan Chan)
KTV--good times!
The rice people (I could go for some fried rice right now!!!) and the teppanyaki place
the girls at the bakery who always knew I wanted a passion fruit green tea even though I never knew how to say it in Chinese
conversations on the way to get breakfast in the mornings
laughing in our office; Kao and I exchanging e-mails back and forth even though we sat right across from each other!
our travel adventures near and far; going to the World EXPO
birthday celebrations--Open Door anyone? :)
KG worship, retreats, my small group
Laffa bread salads at Element Fresh (OH that sounds SOOOOOO good right now)
Shopping--I miss my shopping buddy!!!!!!!!!
Getting my eyelashes done!
Our aiyee--God bless her!!
eating with chopsticks--hey, I was good at that!
little bits of food happiness--Magnums, chips that cost 8 bucks but were totally worth it!
my dearest friends!!!!!!

Things I won't miss: (Gotta keep it real, right?:)
watching kids pee/poop in the street
Green tea flavored anything--chips, ice cream, ugh give it a rest already!
The spitting
pollution
traffic
rice in general
the long flights
being stared at for being white
arguing with people over bargains
people shoving into the subway
not understanding any Chinese
full body massages
grading papers and having to create my own curriculum
the dirtiness
McDonalds, H & M, IKEA--had enough, thank you
cleaning our classroom
stealth bugs and mosquitoes
the inefficiency of several processes (airport, stores)--ie making things more difficult just because

I think the pros far outweigh the cons; it WAS a good year. I had so much fun living with Diane--we made apartment 16-202 our little home. I am so grateful--I have met so many life-impacting people. I will miss them, but I know my life has been blessed by them this last year.
So, as Marybeth said, it's not really goodbye . . . it's see you another time!!!

Susannah

P.S. I plan on going back to China someday. Who's with me??? :)

Better Late than Never, I Suppose! :)

Hello friends and family,

Ok, so I am a seriously bad blogger!!!! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. Life has been a whirlwind of traveling and work. Third quarter just ended, so I had a few weeks of frantic grading, midterms, and report cards. If you're a teacher and you understand, then you know how much work that entails! :) Now we are a few weeks into fourth quarter, and I am, at the moment, all caught up! That won't last!!! :)

Well, we just had a small break from school--our May holiday. It was nice to have a time to rest and relax. My friend Jen Chan and I headed to Beijing on Saturday morning, and we really hit the ground running! Tian'an Men Square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall--all checked off the list! There were a GABILLION people in BJ, though, so getting anywhere was a major headache!!!!! We survived, though, and have the blisters (me) and sprained ankle (Jen) to prove it!

We also saw all the Olympic stuff--Bird's Nest (cool) and the Ice Cube (even cooler:) and a traditional tea ceremony with random a hand puppet show and a part of the Beijing Face Mask Opera--they switch masks at the blink of an eye--sooooo amazing! The tea was pretty good, too.

Anyway, the coolest part, besides the antiques market we happened to go to right when it was CLOSING! was the WALL. I have always always always wanted to see the Great Wall of China. It's been a dream of mine for a very long time. Jen and I headed out to Simatai, which is for the adventurous thrill seekers because it is a CLIMB! Most people head to Badaling, which is an hour from BJ, but we headed two hours out of the city. The scenery was beautiful! Mountains, mountains, mountains! It was a smidgen daunting to see the watchtowers of the wall when we finally arrived---sooooo high up! We took the cable car AND a tram AND had to hike up just to get up to the wall. Little old Chinese men and women, families with (little) kids, etc. all were trekking up the steep stairs . . . but it was amazing!!!!!!!!! We admired the view and hiked all up and down the wall. It was a workout for sure!!!!!!

So many experiences . . . several strangers asked to take my picture . . . I couldn't people watch because so many people were watching me! One of the "perks" of being so freaking pale I guess! :) Overall, it was a memorable trip . . . I want to visit all of the sites of the Great Wall now! Who's with me???

Some pictures to enjoy . . . I don't know if I'll ever get to blogging about Israel . . . someday. :)

Love to you all!!!

Updates to come soon, I promise!

Lots going on people! I'm home hanging out with the family and praying for little Ben who is still in the NICU. I'll post pictures and comments on my Israel trip soon!!!! :)

Fish Spa!

Happy Holidays!

Hello all,

Wow, I feel as though I have so much to say, yet I don't know where to begin. It's been a crazy month! Lots of traveling and getting ready to travel! :)
The Christmas season just flew by . . . I participated in three "Secret Santa" exchanges, which was a big step for me, as I usually am not a fan of "Secret Satan" as I like to call them. :) I was in an exchange with the English department at work, the adult leaders for KG (Bible study/Youth Group), and among our small group of friends. I received some nice gifts from my friends as well as some of my students.
On Dec. 22nd, I signed out of work early so I could catch my flight to Thailand. I had my own private driver to the airport, which was nice (but not for coming home because I couldn't find him at the airport). No problems getting into Bangkok--it was soooo warm when I stepped outside of the airport! I stayed overnight in Bangkok and met some nice people from Germany and New Zealand while waiting for the hotel shuttle. It was a short night, though. I checked in around 11 P.M. and decided to take the 4 A.M. shuttle back to the airport to catch my flight up to Chiang Mai. Wow, I got about 3 hours of sleep, and was scared to death when a little gecko shimmed up the wall next to my door! I had forgotten about the bugs and geckos in Thailand!
My next flight was at 6 A.M., but just as we were about to take off, we had to go back to the gate because of some kind of engine trouble--not very reassuring. After about a half an hour, we were finally on our way. Tutu and Birdie met me at the airport, and it felt so strange to be back in Thailand again. I was able to go back to Mike and Debbie's to freshen up before the group got back from Bangkok. It was sooooooo nice to see them all again!
It was an interesting couple of days. We definitely jumped right in . . . we went to a Thai funeral (we didn't know the deceased) and FROZE sitting there at night. It gets cold at night, and I was wearing a skirt and didn't really have an adequate jacket. The funeral was . . . well, a Thai funeral. A lot of talking I didn't understand, people talking all the time, children running around, dogs chasing each other . . . it was different! Also, we were seated in the "choir" section (thanks, Tutu) and sang two different songs. It was a LONG 3 hours, for sure.
The next day, we went to one of the new orphanages--sooo cute! The kids are all young (under 8, I think) and they were super shy! Anyway, we just said hi and the kids showed us their new blankets. :) Then we headed to a juvenile detention center for teens awaiting their sentencing. Most of the kids were charged with dealing drugs or stealing. The group from Asia's Hope performed and had a service for them--it was an interesting experience. The singing was fun! I was also able to hang out with the girl I sponsor--she is super sweet! We also had a home made Christmas dinner (thanks, Debbie) with our little group, and it was gooood! Classic Christmas dinner! :)
Pat, Kris, Sara, and I then checked in to a nice hotel (the one we stayed at last summer) and spent Christmas Eve at the Night Market! That was really fun!!!We slept in a bit on Christmas and then had breakfast outside next to the pool. It was surreal--it definitely didn't feel like Christmas. We headed back to Mike and Debbie's that afternoon and I was able to call home that night and the next morning. It was kinda sad, though. I missed home. :( Anyway, that day David wanted to take us to the mall to see Avatar (great graphics, a LONG movie--reminded me of Star Wars for some reason) and we also were able to experience a FISH SPA! For 100 baht (3 dollars) for twenty minutes, I stuck my feet into a tank filled with little fish so they could eat/suck all the dead skin off my feet. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was an experience, for sure. It felt like little shocks on your feet! Pat, Kris, Sara, and I were all in the same tank, and we definitely created a scene! Maybe it was the four screaming Westerners??? Sometimes the "big" fish bit your feet and you couldn't help but scream! It was really fun, though, and my feet were smoother!
That night we all gathered at DS #1 (the first orphan home) for the children's program. It was so fun and the kids all did a great job! Sara and David were going to sing a song together, and I joined in (I had heard the song about 15 times in the car:) and that was fun. I don't think my mic was on, though. :)
The next morning(Sunday) it was time to leave. :( It was sad to leave my friends and Thailand, but who knows? I may be back again one day! As my plane finally landed back in Shanghai, it was SNOWING. Not cool. Also, I didn't actually bring a real coat, so I was FREEZING. And I couldn't find the driver! It took at least an hour for us to find each other! But I made it back!
Fast forward to New Year's Eve (just a few days of teaching, whatever) and our little group of girls (Jen, Jen, Beth, Diane, and me) signed out early (again) and took the party van to the airport to go to Hong Kong. We had a lot of fun! Jen Chan has Hong Kong citizenship (that made her immigration experience super quick!) and it was funny to hear her and the other Jen (Shang--who is Shanghainese) argue about which place was better--Hong Kong or Shanghai! I, of course, offered "America" as my answer, but they just laughed. It took forever to get through immigration in HK, and we were scheduled to eat dinner at the G-Bar (in the IFC Tower) at 10 . . . after immigration, getting a taxi, and getting to our hotel (after going to the wrong one first--stupid "sister" hotels) we literally had 15 minutes to get ready for our evening. Oh, our hotel was nice--it was attached to a MALL. :)
Well, after going on the subway and transferring lines (wearing heels and a dress) and even running (NOT COOL) to catch the subway, we FINALLY made it with about a half an hour to spare! Tons of people, fun music, and good (expensive) food! We had a nice time, though. The fireworks were fun, and we were in a fun location. We didn't stay out long, though--we all were exhausted. It was a long day! We spent the next day shopping (there were LINES of people waiting to shop at Prada and Gucci) and just looking at all the pretty things. I was thinking, wow, we could solve world hunger with all of that excess. I would NEVER pay that much for a purse! Anyway, we had fun at one of the street markets, and then we all met up for dinner--it was interesting. I had fried rice, and it was good. :) We headed back to the hotel that night and went in the hot tub, sauna, and the pool--so relaxing.
The next day we checked out of our hotel, stored our luggage, and went to eat classic dim sum. It was ok. I'm picky (or so I hear!) and I almost threw up when they failed to tell me there was shrimp in the bun, but it was a different experience. We then headed to Disneyland Hong Kong--fun! We rode Space Mountain, It's a Small World, and the Buzz Light Year rides. We also ate--cotton candy, hot dogs, hot chocolate. YUM! There was also a cool Christmas parade. I had never been to a DisneyLAND before, so it was really fun for me. For my California friends, it was small and so sub par to the Disney in Cali, but WHATEVER! :) I had a good time. The castle was so pretty at night!
The next day we checked out of the Hollywood Hotel (I had to leave my little pink suitcase behind because it broke and wouldn't close--so sad) and headed back to the airport. By this point we were all exhausted! But it was a fun trip, AND a stamp in my passport. I would definitely go back to HK again!
Well, here I am, getting ready to head to church in a few hours. I've had a nice weekend of relaxing (massage, shopping, watching movies, etc.) and I am looking forward to the LAST full week of school. I have 20 days and counting until my plane lands in Detroit! YAY!!!! I hope all is well . . . looking forward to seeing everyone when I get home! :)
Thanks for reading. I'll try to post again after I get back from Harbin in two weeks (and haven't frozen to death!). Crazy Christine, are you ready to FREEZE???????????????? :)

Susannah
"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." (Robert Louis Stevenson)
"Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going." (Paul Theroux)