CATCH UP TIME

My blogging has been abysmal lately. At BEST! I’m sure most people have given up on the blog at this point, but I plan to do my best to give the “cliff’s” of my last couple weeks, and once again… make aspirations to do better!

In the other times that I have been away, specifically, Spain or in Washington at Holden, (a retreat center – not a cult like Rachel and Jessie like to claim that it was! :)) I went through the same sort of phase that I went through over these last couple of weeks. During the middle point, I unintentionally, semi-lost communication with people outside of what I was doing. The lack of communication was merely a byproduct of my general mood and questioning of everything going on around me.

I still do not fully understand the culture (desperately want to, but that can’t happen in 10 weeks, let’s be real.) I see things and want to ask people questions; I can’t. Many of the things that were crazy-shiney-new the first few weeks have lost their sheen. I question if I’ve been as efficient with my time as I could have been. I hope my project will turn out great. I wonder what it is exactly that I’m learning or have already learned.

I know… the true “ah-ha” moments will come later on down the road (BUT I WANT THEM NOW!) at a least expectant-moment, when I think – YES! China! That is where I came to realize… At least this is the way my major life experiences have been thus far. As I’m moving through this crazy Chinese woked experience – it’s hard to discern the full impact of what I’m moving through.

What I DO KNOW is that a lot has happened since I have last blogged! In the spirit of my fellow Rebecca who I will be living with NEXT MONTH – I am making a list.

1) Dinner with Dr. Singhal’s friend – Arthur Wang. (note: read Mircha’s blog for a more detailed account!) It was a fantastic evening filled with great advice, genuine conversation, new friendships, new project opportunities, tequila (oh… my…), and TEXAS BBQ!!! For me, the new project opportunity happened when Arthur said, “Don’t plan for an event; HOST AN EVENT! I can make this happen. NEXT WEEK!” (That will be a whole blog post…)

2) More AWESOME GALLERIES! The translator from Yale ended up helping me out a lot and was lots of fun to hang out with!

3) Trenia and I have started CHINESE LESSONS!

4) A concert by Abigail Washburn, Belafleck’s wife!

5) DIRTY, yet delicious crawfish! AH!

6) Chinese Kareoke! SO. MUCH. FUN. Every party has a private room and controls the play list. I must admit that the random singers were missed, but this type of karaoke was super fun.

7) 4th of July! Apart from having NO FIRWORKS show, parade, neighborhood yard volleyball, or lake time… we managed to have a great time. We went to a bar where there were lots of Americans (and SOUTHERNERS!) who enjoyed American music, a pie-eating contest, and a beer drinking contest. (Fortunately, I did not participate!) Hallie… we did meet some AWESOME people from Vanderbilt!

8) The clothes from the fabric market are FABULOUS! Trenia and I are stoked about everything that was made.

9) Loads and loads of random encounters with people, new foods, new friends, and more to come…

If I slack and you are missing my blog, shot me an email and harass me about it; that tends to get me in gear! :)