I know it's been exactly a week since my last post. There have been several occasions when I thought, "I could blog about that." But, I'm a little low on emotional energy right now. Dan's doing some cover work, which means that neither of us is at home resting. There are two tired and stressed people trying to take care of two energetic young girls. Needless to say, it's not conducive to blogging.
I'm also working on a really, really big project. I have a group of pretty apathetic 9th graders this year, and my next unit is about Macbeth. Apathy and Shakespeare don't really get along and, quite frankly, I just want to light a fire under them. So, I came up with a solution, a very complicated and time-consuming one. I've made my entire unit into a game. Everything about class will either earn them points or badges and I've gotten feedback from several game fanatics in order to get it as close to something they might play as possible. Now, I know that gaming in the classroom is nothing new, but it isn't really about the novelty. I really, really, really want to engage these kids.
If they don't get into it, or just plain hate it, I will probably have a breakdown. Or, maybe I'll just make them read the entire play silently and give them a test. Ha! Then we'll see who likes my game. If nothing else, they'll get better and better at faking it!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Immense, Not Infinite, Love
I love you this much.
How much?
This much!
I have some pretty big loves in my life. I love them immensely. I think about them most of my day. But it is an odd thing to try to quantify love. When I was younger, I was convinced that loving one more person didn't mean you loved the others less, but it does, in fact. Olivia came along and Dan used to say that he felt like he was getting a smaller "piece of the pie" so to speak. And I would get annoyed with him for suggesting that I only had so much love to give and not enough of it was going his way. But I get it now.
From the perspective of the person loving, the love feels infinite because it is everything we have, but from the perspective of the person being loved it's pretty easy to see the deficiencies. As it turns out, I can't really think about all of the people that I love all of the time. So, what happens?
I had a professor who once said, "You fall in love with the people around you." In my experience that's often true, but the same rule applies to love in general. The people closest to you, either physically or mentally, are the ones that get more of your love. And, in sort of the same way that one language is always dominant at any given time, the love never disappears, but it is more or less strong depending on who's closest.
Writing this makes me wonder if our finite mind power is why the heart was chosen as a symbol of love. But I digress. The entire point of this blog entry, aside from pretending that people want to read what I have to say, was to assure Dan that there is hope, because SOMEDAY our children will leave the house. And, if we have to, we can move far far away from them so that you can have the bigger piece of pie for once!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Painting a Pretty Picture
I had a meeting with Olivia's teacher this afternoon. We compared notes about her behavior at home and school in the hopes that we might find a common strategy to combat her whining ways. And, as someone who never whines, ahem, it is something I am anxious to nip in the bud.
When I arrived at her classroom, however, Olivia was still there. The nanny was on her way but Olivia, after seeing me, wasn't too interested in going home with the nanny. She wanted me to come paint with her. So, I promised her that we'd paint together at home. You can imagine the pretty pictures we usually paint; Olivia has an appreciation for crabs at the moment. But, tonight turned into something a little different.
Mid-way through our painting session, after squirting half a container of green finger paint on our white walls, Olivia decided that it felt quite nice to paint her skin too. And, though she's a bit young for make-up, I enjoyed her artistic adventure.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
I Doublethink Not
1984 is one of those novels that sticks with you. And, given that I use the book with students, I've reread it, perhaps too many times. Don't get me wrong; I appreciate and even like the novel. I think it conveys an important message and I can sympathize with Orwell's pessimistic tendencies. But I find that I, like so many other people, would often rather live life like Parsons, rather than Winston. And, I don't like to face the fact that I do this. It's easy, reading the novel, to criticize the masses who act like sheep and readily embrace contradictory ideas because it makes their life easier. It's much more difficult to accept that the same criticism could and should be applied to myself. So, I'm not going to focus on myself. I'm going to focus on other people who are even better at the game than I am.
A couple of nights ago I was talking with Dan about politics, generally a depressing topic for me, and I started thinking about what I consider to be a double plus good capability for doublethink among the far right. Nothing exemplifies it better for me than a clip from The Daily Show where several republicans claim, without batting an eye, that the government should be less involved in people's lives and people should have the right to choose what they believe, but abortion is wrong and should be illegal. Two plus two is apparently five.
Here now, I actually feel the need to explain that in spite of an embryo/fetus's parasitic status, I am a sucker for all things small and needy and find it hard to imagine a circumstance where I would have an abortion. That said, it is my body and, dare I say it, my parasite.
So, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little. If I really thought a fetus was a parasite I would probably be happy to get rid of it as quickly as I would worms, for example. But it does lead to my point (I'm getting there, I promise).
Most people agree that it is wrong to kill other people and some would say it's even wrong to kill yourself. But the discord arises when we have to decide what constitutes a person.
I realize that for the purposes of law and religion, the strictest definition is often the most desirable because it leaves the least amount of room for legal and moral ambiguity. However, maintaining such a definition is not always the most compassionate thing to do. Compassion, in my opinion, is more important than law or religion, and it's a shame it isn't inherent in both.
A fetus of 12 or even 18 weeks cannot, to my knowledge, survive outside the womb. So we might, therefore, make the analogy to decisions about life support - consideration is often given to the potential future a person might have and the cost of the support that would give them that opportunity. With respect to a fetus, potential future cannot be guaranteed. I would even argue that, given the right wing propensity for cutting social support systems to the ground, a fetus's potential (for productivity, happiness, etc.) may be significantly reduced in some cases. The cost of maintaining a fetus, and later a child, is enormously high when you factor in the physical and emotional impact of bearing a child, and the financial cost of adequate pre and post-natal care. Needless to say, we haven't even got to the cost of feeding, sheltering and clothing the child once it is born! But here I must come back to my point. Decisions to end any life are not black and white, but it is easier and more comforting to see them that way. Because they are not black and white, they are extraordinarily complex and difficult decisions to make and live with.
In an ideal world, there would be no need for the decisions to take someone off life support or have an abortion, but there would also be no war, no rape, and no hunger. It seems absolutely inhumane to force someone to carry and bring a child into the world and then leave that child to fend for itself. If people oppose abortion because they truly believe that every life is valuable, then they need to put their money where their mouth is and cherish and support that life until it ends naturally.
A couple of nights ago I was talking with Dan about politics, generally a depressing topic for me, and I started thinking about what I consider to be a double plus good capability for doublethink among the far right. Nothing exemplifies it better for me than a clip from The Daily Show where several republicans claim, without batting an eye, that the government should be less involved in people's lives and people should have the right to choose what they believe, but abortion is wrong and should be illegal. Two plus two is apparently five.
Here now, I actually feel the need to explain that in spite of an embryo/fetus's parasitic status, I am a sucker for all things small and needy and find it hard to imagine a circumstance where I would have an abortion. That said, it is my body and, dare I say it, my parasite.
So, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little. If I really thought a fetus was a parasite I would probably be happy to get rid of it as quickly as I would worms, for example. But it does lead to my point (I'm getting there, I promise).
Most people agree that it is wrong to kill other people and some would say it's even wrong to kill yourself. But the discord arises when we have to decide what constitutes a person.
I realize that for the purposes of law and religion, the strictest definition is often the most desirable because it leaves the least amount of room for legal and moral ambiguity. However, maintaining such a definition is not always the most compassionate thing to do. Compassion, in my opinion, is more important than law or religion, and it's a shame it isn't inherent in both.
A fetus of 12 or even 18 weeks cannot, to my knowledge, survive outside the womb. So we might, therefore, make the analogy to decisions about life support - consideration is often given to the potential future a person might have and the cost of the support that would give them that opportunity. With respect to a fetus, potential future cannot be guaranteed. I would even argue that, given the right wing propensity for cutting social support systems to the ground, a fetus's potential (for productivity, happiness, etc.) may be significantly reduced in some cases. The cost of maintaining a fetus, and later a child, is enormously high when you factor in the physical and emotional impact of bearing a child, and the financial cost of adequate pre and post-natal care. Needless to say, we haven't even got to the cost of feeding, sheltering and clothing the child once it is born! But here I must come back to my point. Decisions to end any life are not black and white, but it is easier and more comforting to see them that way. Because they are not black and white, they are extraordinarily complex and difficult decisions to make and live with.
In an ideal world, there would be no need for the decisions to take someone off life support or have an abortion, but there would also be no war, no rape, and no hunger. It seems absolutely inhumane to force someone to carry and bring a child into the world and then leave that child to fend for itself. If people oppose abortion because they truly believe that every life is valuable, then they need to put their money where their mouth is and cherish and support that life until it ends naturally.
Sunday, October 07, 2012
The Day Before Monday
My dad always said that while he was a teacher he always dreaded Sunday night. I don't think it has as much to do with being a teacher as it does with having a good life outside of work, but I get it. Especially painful is the Sunday night after a great holiday. I actually like work, more than most people probably, but I'm not immune to the grief that follows when something wonderful ends.
As a rule, we do as little as possible when we stay in Beijing for a holiday, and this time was no different. Here you might wonder, then, what will I write about? Well, just because we didn't do much, doesn't mean our week was uneventful. You would have had to forget that we have two young kids if you thought that!
But, it was the really mundane things that made our holiday. Today, like most of the other days this past week, we had a few friends over to eat. We ate chocolate crepes, eggs, bacon, cheese, and fruit (not all together, of course) and chatted about current events and future plans. We gawked at the window washers perched precariously on the edge of the building opposite ours. And, we pet the dog.
By request we had a lovely mutt named Borges join us for breakfast and Olivia couldn't have been happier if we'd given her a big bar of chocolate. Actually, she got some chocolate too, so she pretty much hit the jackpot this morning.
And now it's mid-afternoon. Sunday evening is very close. Oddly, today I have none of my usual Sunday anxiety. I haven't planned the meals for the week, done the grocery shopping, or finished all of my grading, but I'm just to relaxed to stress about it. As a matter of fact, I'm so relaxed that I might just take a nap with Olivia. I just can't imagine life can get any better than this!
As a rule, we do as little as possible when we stay in Beijing for a holiday, and this time was no different. Here you might wonder, then, what will I write about? Well, just because we didn't do much, doesn't mean our week was uneventful. You would have had to forget that we have two young kids if you thought that!
But, it was the really mundane things that made our holiday. Today, like most of the other days this past week, we had a few friends over to eat. We ate chocolate crepes, eggs, bacon, cheese, and fruit (not all together, of course) and chatted about current events and future plans. We gawked at the window washers perched precariously on the edge of the building opposite ours. And, we pet the dog.
By request we had a lovely mutt named Borges join us for breakfast and Olivia couldn't have been happier if we'd given her a big bar of chocolate. Actually, she got some chocolate too, so she pretty much hit the jackpot this morning.
And now it's mid-afternoon. Sunday evening is very close. Oddly, today I have none of my usual Sunday anxiety. I haven't planned the meals for the week, done the grocery shopping, or finished all of my grading, but I'm just to relaxed to stress about it. As a matter of fact, I'm so relaxed that I might just take a nap with Olivia. I just can't imagine life can get any better than this!
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
A Holiday Within A Holiday
Even knowing that certain words are not capitalized in titles, I couldn't stop myself from capitalizing each word in the title of this post. Sometimes following conventions just looks bad. And, just now, it bothered me how unsymmetrical it looked written properly. Hopefully my grammatical double standard won't come back to bite me.
But I digress. This holiday (the mid-autumn/National Day holidays) has been pretty spectacular. The weather has been perfect - cool, sunny and relatively low pollution levels (funny that now pollution levels are very much a part of the weather for me). We've done something, generally getting together with friends, every day. And, yesterday, after going to my friend Jinbo's house, Olivia stayed to spend the night!
I have to admit I was nervous. I'm not sure why I was unnerved, since Jinbo is one of my best friends and I trust her absolutely. I can only assume it was one of those, "My baby is growing up!" moments.
We had gone to her house earlier in the day to have lunch and go to the Purple Bamboo Park, a ten minute walk away. During the day, Jinbo and Majie (her husband) offered to keep her overnight several times. By the time Dan and I left at 5:30, we were ready to take them up on their offer. It was really strange going home without her, but I'm sure Katherine enjoyed having our full attention, for once.
We put Katherine to bed and watched 4 or 5 episodes of Borgias (we never watch anything anymore!). It was really nice to have an evening entirely to ourselves in our house. Needless to say, we slept really well, and had a more relaxing morning than usual.
The nicest part of the whole thing, though, was when she came back. She was in a great mood, and after not seeing her for about 20 hours (not that I was counting), I had really started to miss her! Katherine was pretty excited too.
It's amazing how each phase of growth seems better than the last. It doesn't seem possible.
But I digress. This holiday (the mid-autumn/National Day holidays) has been pretty spectacular. The weather has been perfect - cool, sunny and relatively low pollution levels (funny that now pollution levels are very much a part of the weather for me). We've done something, generally getting together with friends, every day. And, yesterday, after going to my friend Jinbo's house, Olivia stayed to spend the night!
I have to admit I was nervous. I'm not sure why I was unnerved, since Jinbo is one of my best friends and I trust her absolutely. I can only assume it was one of those, "My baby is growing up!" moments.
We had gone to her house earlier in the day to have lunch and go to the Purple Bamboo Park, a ten minute walk away. During the day, Jinbo and Majie (her husband) offered to keep her overnight several times. By the time Dan and I left at 5:30, we were ready to take them up on their offer. It was really strange going home without her, but I'm sure Katherine enjoyed having our full attention, for once.
We put Katherine to bed and watched 4 or 5 episodes of Borgias (we never watch anything anymore!). It was really nice to have an evening entirely to ourselves in our house. Needless to say, we slept really well, and had a more relaxing morning than usual.
The nicest part of the whole thing, though, was when she came back. She was in a great mood, and after not seeing her for about 20 hours (not that I was counting), I had really started to miss her! Katherine was pretty excited too.
It's amazing how each phase of growth seems better than the last. It doesn't seem possible.
Monday, October 01, 2012
2 Years Later...
It goes without saying, that I've kept busy. Baby number one just started school and is currently seriously confused by her first vacation: "Can I go to school, mommy?" Baby number two has begun walking, dancing, and climbing in ernest. We're still in Beijing.
I did commit to a year when we first came here, right? I guess that's what happens when life is good. It gets hard to imagine living anywhere else. Hard to imagine how, if I don't even have time to keep a blog now, I might have time for anything else anywhere else! Let's just see how long I can maintain my current industrious attitude before I take a three-year break.
I do wonder, though, why I don't persist. Is it because I can't keep it brief? If I'm sitting at my computer, writing, I could be spending time with the girls or doing some work. Or, maybe, it's because my life is too good. Writers are supposed to be tortured, right? I refuse to admit it might be laziness, because I am not a lazy person. Perhaps it is perfectionism gone wrong-avoiding the task because it might not be perfect when I'm done with it.
Regardless of the reason, I'm willing to give it another go. There's plenty to write about, even on the blandest of days; having children does that. So, here we go again.
I did commit to a year when we first came here, right? I guess that's what happens when life is good. It gets hard to imagine living anywhere else. Hard to imagine how, if I don't even have time to keep a blog now, I might have time for anything else anywhere else! Let's just see how long I can maintain my current industrious attitude before I take a three-year break.
I do wonder, though, why I don't persist. Is it because I can't keep it brief? If I'm sitting at my computer, writing, I could be spending time with the girls or doing some work. Or, maybe, it's because my life is too good. Writers are supposed to be tortured, right? I refuse to admit it might be laziness, because I am not a lazy person. Perhaps it is perfectionism gone wrong-avoiding the task because it might not be perfect when I'm done with it.
Regardless of the reason, I'm willing to give it another go. There's plenty to write about, even on the blandest of days; having children does that. So, here we go again.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Hot, hot, hot!
Not really. This is China.
Last week Dan and I had the week off. It started off in the best way possible. We had gorgeous blue skies from Friday until Wednesday. Dan and I took advantage of the weather and biked as much as possible. It was wonderful to have time together, as a family and as a couple. I think I can safely say that both of us feel better about life right now.
Positive attitudes aside for a moment, every now and then I am bombarded with reasons to leave this country. I don't because in spite of the inconveniences, which I love to elaborate on, we live a very comfortable life here, and it somehow manages to redeem itself right as I reach the brink of tolerance.
On Tuesday, Dan and my (and every other Bank of China customer's) bank cards stopped working. No cash, no debit, no banks open because of the national holiday. It wasn't fixed the next day or the day after that. We had to wait until Friday before our cards worked again. I would feel safe betting that they knew in advance that the cards wouldn't work and didn't feel the need to notify people. All I could think was imagine we had an emergency and they didn't take foreign cards! We would have been very, very sorry.
On Wednesday, the pollution kicked in again and we risked suffocating Olivia every time we wanted to go outside. It was absolutely disgusting. We could barely see a block in front of us. That lasted until the end of the holiday. And, on Monday morning I woke up to sparkling blue skies, and work.
The real kicker, though, is that on Friday, when our bank cards started working again, the hot water stopped! Of course there was no warning, because this is China. It's been five days now, and nobody has any idea when we will have hot water again. What really kills me is that someone had to have thought, "Hey, it's getting cold out. You know what would be a good idea? Let's fix the hot water pipes, now."
Yeah, let's.
Last week Dan and I had the week off. It started off in the best way possible. We had gorgeous blue skies from Friday until Wednesday. Dan and I took advantage of the weather and biked as much as possible. It was wonderful to have time together, as a family and as a couple. I think I can safely say that both of us feel better about life right now.
Positive attitudes aside for a moment, every now and then I am bombarded with reasons to leave this country. I don't because in spite of the inconveniences, which I love to elaborate on, we live a very comfortable life here, and it somehow manages to redeem itself right as I reach the brink of tolerance.
On Tuesday, Dan and my (and every other Bank of China customer's) bank cards stopped working. No cash, no debit, no banks open because of the national holiday. It wasn't fixed the next day or the day after that. We had to wait until Friday before our cards worked again. I would feel safe betting that they knew in advance that the cards wouldn't work and didn't feel the need to notify people. All I could think was imagine we had an emergency and they didn't take foreign cards! We would have been very, very sorry.
On Wednesday, the pollution kicked in again and we risked suffocating Olivia every time we wanted to go outside. It was absolutely disgusting. We could barely see a block in front of us. That lasted until the end of the holiday. And, on Monday morning I woke up to sparkling blue skies, and work.
The real kicker, though, is that on Friday, when our bank cards started working again, the hot water stopped! Of course there was no warning, because this is China. It's been five days now, and nobody has any idea when we will have hot water again. What really kills me is that someone had to have thought, "Hey, it's getting cold out. You know what would be a good idea? Let's fix the hot water pipes, now."
Yeah, let's.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Ahhh, Vacation!
So, I'm on day two of ten days of vacation. Does it feel good? Yes. Have I done much? Absolutely not! School ended early on Thursday, and so did I. I think I was asleep by 6:30 or so, just after Olivia. On Friday, barring our usual morning walk, we stayed home most of the day. We only went out for a few hours to buy Dan a new bike. He was a bit reluctant to get one, thought maybe it would be a waste of money, but it turns out he's pretty happy to have a bike.
Today Olivia and I took Da Mi for a walk early, and then came home to drop of the dog and pick up Dan (who needs his beauty sleep). We went out for Chinese breakfast for the first time in a while. It wasn't as good as I hoped it might be, and the donkey meat sandwiches (we passed on the plate of donkey eyes) we had at the specialty hole in the wall were better than anything we had at the bigger place. The highlight, though, was actually the weather. It was another clear, only lightly polluted day in Beijing!! It rained last night so our lungs got a reprieve from the cancer-causing fine particles, but by 8 a.m. the sun was drying things up!
This little, or actually, relatively big guy was pretty cool, too. I found him in the middle of the sidewalk and decided that I would save him in spite of the giant horn on his butt. It's o.k. though, I used Olivia's snack tupperware. A little caterpillar juice never hurt anyone, right?
After breakfast we went home, and I was thinking Olivia might take a nap. Unfortunately, it only lasted about 40 minutes, so just as Dan and I were getting into an interesting conversation, she started crying. It's really annoying because she never used to cry when she woke up, but she always does now. She's not my infinitely happy morning sunshine anymore!! I'm not sure what happened. Judging from the amount of drool that's been leaking out of her mouth lately, she might be getting a tooth or two. Or maybe she's got some sort of saliva regulation problem and she's crying because it really is disgusting to wake up with drool all over your face.
Anyway, she played for a while and when she got tired again, around lunch time, she refused to go down for another nap. So, Dan and I did what any good parents would do. We strapped her in her stroller and took her out for coffee. Nothing quite like caffeine to get a kid to pass out. I suppose it was technically the ride in the stroller that helped her pass out, but I would like to give Starbucks credit because I really enjoyed my latte. She was asleep for so long that Dan and I actually got to read books, at the same time! It was nice to just sit and sip coffee together. That never happens anymore.
After coffee, the weather was still beautiful so we decided to take a bike ride to a park. I sort of had an ulterior motive, but we'll get to that later. We packed up and strapped in, and off we went. We sort of took the long way there, going through some hutongs and ending up on the second ring road, but we made it just as the skies were clouding over. Oh, but here's where my ulterior motive comes in. We weren't actually at the park... we went to a restaurant near the park that has really good chocolate milkshakes :-) We had a late lunch and then went to the park. Unfortunately, by the time we got in the park, went up and down some stairs about twenty times with Olivia, and walked a few meters, the clouds started to get a bit darker and the wind was blowing a bit harder. We decided it was probably time to leave, so we headed home.
Now, Olivia is in bed and we have some time to ourselves. It's wonderful knowing that Dan doesn't have to leave tomorrow or the next day. I'm really enjoying this whole "same vacation" thing.
Today Olivia and I took Da Mi for a walk early, and then came home to drop of the dog and pick up Dan (who needs his beauty sleep). We went out for Chinese breakfast for the first time in a while. It wasn't as good as I hoped it might be, and the donkey meat sandwiches (we passed on the plate of donkey eyes) we had at the specialty hole in the wall were better than anything we had at the bigger place. The highlight, though, was actually the weather. It was another clear, only lightly polluted day in Beijing!! It rained last night so our lungs got a reprieve from the cancer-causing fine particles, but by 8 a.m. the sun was drying things up!
This little, or actually, relatively big guy was pretty cool, too. I found him in the middle of the sidewalk and decided that I would save him in spite of the giant horn on his butt. It's o.k. though, I used Olivia's snack tupperware. A little caterpillar juice never hurt anyone, right?
After breakfast we went home, and I was thinking Olivia might take a nap. Unfortunately, it only lasted about 40 minutes, so just as Dan and I were getting into an interesting conversation, she started crying. It's really annoying because she never used to cry when she woke up, but she always does now. She's not my infinitely happy morning sunshine anymore!! I'm not sure what happened. Judging from the amount of drool that's been leaking out of her mouth lately, she might be getting a tooth or two. Or maybe she's got some sort of saliva regulation problem and she's crying because it really is disgusting to wake up with drool all over your face.
Anyway, she played for a while and when she got tired again, around lunch time, she refused to go down for another nap. So, Dan and I did what any good parents would do. We strapped her in her stroller and took her out for coffee. Nothing quite like caffeine to get a kid to pass out. I suppose it was technically the ride in the stroller that helped her pass out, but I would like to give Starbucks credit because I really enjoyed my latte. She was asleep for so long that Dan and I actually got to read books, at the same time! It was nice to just sit and sip coffee together. That never happens anymore.
After coffee, the weather was still beautiful so we decided to take a bike ride to a park. I sort of had an ulterior motive, but we'll get to that later. We packed up and strapped in, and off we went. We sort of took the long way there, going through some hutongs and ending up on the second ring road, but we made it just as the skies were clouding over. Oh, but here's where my ulterior motive comes in. We weren't actually at the park... we went to a restaurant near the park that has really good chocolate milkshakes :-) We had a late lunch and then went to the park. Unfortunately, by the time we got in the park, went up and down some stairs about twenty times with Olivia, and walked a few meters, the clouds started to get a bit darker and the wind was blowing a bit harder. We decided it was probably time to leave, so we headed home.
Now, Olivia is in bed and we have some time to ourselves. It's wonderful knowing that Dan doesn't have to leave tomorrow or the next day. I'm really enjoying this whole "same vacation" thing.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Bad, bad girl!
I should probably be punished, but I'm grateful that I won't be. What's the infraction, you ask? Twice, in as many days, I forgot my camera. I can see my dad wagging his finger at me from here! It seems impossibly hard to remember essential things these days. I think a scan of my brain would reveal severely reduced function in all areas and perhaps a few lost toys would show up as well. I'd get a scan but getting pre-approval from my health insurance is just not worth the hassle (I know, their evil plan works!). Where was I going with this? Oh, yeah, the camera that I forgot on my walks. I walk the dog every day (the baby gets a walk too, but I'm not sure she cares). There are plenty of days that I don't see anything particularly spectacular or even moderately photo-worthy. Yesterday and today I was caught off guard and, of course, sans camera.
Yesterday, I walked down a road that didn't exist a few hours earlier (no, that is not an exaggeration, the blacktop still smelled fresh as we walked over it--less than a year ago it was a walled-in overgrown migrant worker toilet zone and I have pictures to prove it). I saw some workers wearing bright orange vests but no hardhats, no goggles, no masks. This isn't uncommon in China. In fact, I was actually surprised to see that they appeared to have flame retardant gloves. Now, you might wonder, how on Earth would she know if they were flame retardant? See, the workers were laying down pipes, pretty big ones, and one of them was apparently too long. So, what do you do with a pipe that's too long? You cut it! The thing is, when it's an insulated pipe, that gets a bit tricky. As soon as the saw began to screech and spark against the metal, the insulation burst into flames. So, while worker number 1 managed the saw, sparks flying scarily close to his unprotected face, worker number 2 (or maybe just a really good friend) continued to beat out the flames with his gloves. When worker number 1 successfully cut through the pipe, he joined number 2 in beating the flames. Finally, after what I can only assume was the substantial inhalation of toxic fumes, the fire was out and the men retreated. It's visions like these where all I can say is "This is China."
This morning was a different story. Nothing crazy, no lives or body parts were in danger. I simply woke up at 4 a.m. (and yes, I know it's an ungodly hour), did some yoga, and went for an early walk when Olivia woke up. There was almost nobody out yet, and the weather was perfect. It was actually a bit strange because it smelled more like spring than fall. Maybe it will get warm again before it gets cold. The courtyard is lush and green right now, which is beautiful in and of itself, but the moon was absolutely stunning! It was oddly high in the sky and super bright. It was so clear and bright that I could see the texture caused by the craters. It's hard to explain actually. A very blue sky, orange at the eastern horizon and this bright moon looming overhead. I will bring my camera tomorrow, but I can pretty much guarantee that I will never see anything like that again. In spite of my attempts to show her, I'm not sure Olivia truly appreciated the moment. I'm pretty sure, actually, that all she wanted was for me to continue moving.
Tomorrow, I WILL bring my camera. (And, of course, I won't need it.)
Yesterday, I walked down a road that didn't exist a few hours earlier (no, that is not an exaggeration, the blacktop still smelled fresh as we walked over it--less than a year ago it was a walled-in overgrown migrant worker toilet zone and I have pictures to prove it). I saw some workers wearing bright orange vests but no hardhats, no goggles, no masks. This isn't uncommon in China. In fact, I was actually surprised to see that they appeared to have flame retardant gloves. Now, you might wonder, how on Earth would she know if they were flame retardant? See, the workers were laying down pipes, pretty big ones, and one of them was apparently too long. So, what do you do with a pipe that's too long? You cut it! The thing is, when it's an insulated pipe, that gets a bit tricky. As soon as the saw began to screech and spark against the metal, the insulation burst into flames. So, while worker number 1 managed the saw, sparks flying scarily close to his unprotected face, worker number 2 (or maybe just a really good friend) continued to beat out the flames with his gloves. When worker number 1 successfully cut through the pipe, he joined number 2 in beating the flames. Finally, after what I can only assume was the substantial inhalation of toxic fumes, the fire was out and the men retreated. It's visions like these where all I can say is "This is China."
This morning was a different story. Nothing crazy, no lives or body parts were in danger. I simply woke up at 4 a.m. (and yes, I know it's an ungodly hour), did some yoga, and went for an early walk when Olivia woke up. There was almost nobody out yet, and the weather was perfect. It was actually a bit strange because it smelled more like spring than fall. Maybe it will get warm again before it gets cold. The courtyard is lush and green right now, which is beautiful in and of itself, but the moon was absolutely stunning! It was oddly high in the sky and super bright. It was so clear and bright that I could see the texture caused by the craters. It's hard to explain actually. A very blue sky, orange at the eastern horizon and this bright moon looming overhead. I will bring my camera tomorrow, but I can pretty much guarantee that I will never see anything like that again. In spite of my attempts to show her, I'm not sure Olivia truly appreciated the moment. I'm pretty sure, actually, that all she wanted was for me to continue moving.
Tomorrow, I WILL bring my camera. (And, of course, I won't need it.)
Monday, August 23, 2010
And So This Is China...
Being back in China is bitter sweet. I'm far from family and back to work, but I'm also back to my dog, my house, and my routines. Walking a dog probably gives you a different feel for any place, but here it has exposed me to so much! I see so many strange and funny things. And, with a dog and a cute baby, I'm guaranteed that at least three people will talk to me in the course of an hour walk. I get a lot of Chinese practice that way. Granted, it also means that I've become particularly adept at speaking about dogs and babies, but I learn the occasional new word too. And, I have to say... I really missed the Chinglish.
I'm glad to be getting my weekly organic veggie delivery too! I realized on Saturday, that I hadn't had a single Chinese meal until then (compliments to my friend Jin Bo and her awesome jiao zi making skills), but I sure have been enjoying a good deal more plant-based food than I was in the States. When Dan gets back, we'll probably get out for Chinese food a little more often. I've just been too tired and lazy to go with Olivia. She started walking a week ago and I have been busy ever since! It's so hard for me to believe she'll be a year on Friday!
I feel so tired, but so lucky to have the life I do. Dan gets back tomorrow, and then it will really feel like we're home :-)
I'm glad to be getting my weekly organic veggie delivery too! I realized on Saturday, that I hadn't had a single Chinese meal until then (compliments to my friend Jin Bo and her awesome jiao zi making skills), but I sure have been enjoying a good deal more plant-based food than I was in the States. When Dan gets back, we'll probably get out for Chinese food a little more often. I've just been too tired and lazy to go with Olivia. She started walking a week ago and I have been busy ever since! It's so hard for me to believe she'll be a year on Friday!
I feel so tired, but so lucky to have the life I do. Dan gets back tomorrow, and then it will really feel like we're home :-)
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Woo Hoo!
So my Chinese New Year's resolution lasted about as long as most things made in China. Almost six months have flown by! Oh well! Maybe next year ;-)
Today has been an awesome day! I handed in the last paper and gave the last presentation for my master's degree. It's been about three years since I started the program, and I only recently realized how much it was hanging over me. I can't get it into my head that it's actually over, that there are no more classes to take, and that I'll get a nice raise with my next contract! I feel so free!
The day only got sweeter when I came home after our celebration and got to see Olivia take her first step! It's amazing how quickly she's changing. I can barely keep up with her now. She moves so fast and is constantly getting into things. And whether or not she's getting into trouble, she is almost always jabbering away in her own little language. I love her little personality-she's got such presence!
Unfortunately for me, that presence is evident from about 5:30 in the morning, so I really ought to get some sleep. I may be done with school for a while, but there's no rest for the weary. Tomorrow, we've got plans for brunch and maybe Olivia's first trip to the zoo.
Since I can't upload any of my photo's from this summer, yet, here's a recent one I took with my computer when my dad was visiting...
Today has been an awesome day! I handed in the last paper and gave the last presentation for my master's degree. It's been about three years since I started the program, and I only recently realized how much it was hanging over me. I can't get it into my head that it's actually over, that there are no more classes to take, and that I'll get a nice raise with my next contract! I feel so free!
The day only got sweeter when I came home after our celebration and got to see Olivia take her first step! It's amazing how quickly she's changing. I can barely keep up with her now. She moves so fast and is constantly getting into things. And whether or not she's getting into trouble, she is almost always jabbering away in her own little language. I love her little personality-she's got such presence!
Unfortunately for me, that presence is evident from about 5:30 in the morning, so I really ought to get some sleep. I may be done with school for a while, but there's no rest for the weary. Tomorrow, we've got plans for brunch and maybe Olivia's first trip to the zoo.
Since I can't upload any of my photo's from this summer, yet, here's a recent one I took with my computer when my dad was visiting...
Sunday, February 21, 2010
About time...
It has been ONE FULL YEAR since I last posted, so if you're still following this, wow! That little fetus in the previous post went from that to this...
to this...
to this...
to this...
I could keep going, but I will spare you my infinite photo collection... for now. It has been an amazing year! I can't believe how lucky I am to have Dan and now Olivia in my life. So much has changed for me that it seems a silly proposition to try to recount it all, instead I will leave you drooling over the cutest baby in the world with the promise that I will write again... soon.
So, here it is, my Chinese New Year's Resolution: I will blog at least once a week! (You may now start taking bets on how long this will last.)
Xin nian kuai le! Happy Year of the Tiger!
to this...
to this...
to this...
I could keep going, but I will spare you my infinite photo collection... for now. It has been an amazing year! I can't believe how lucky I am to have Dan and now Olivia in my life. So much has changed for me that it seems a silly proposition to try to recount it all, instead I will leave you drooling over the cutest baby in the world with the promise that I will write again... soon.
So, here it is, my Chinese New Year's Resolution: I will blog at least once a week! (You may now start taking bets on how long this will last.)
Xin nian kuai le! Happy Year of the Tiger!
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Three Months
It's been almost exactly three months since my last post. As it turns out, three months is a pretty significant number. I began getting sick over the Christmas holiday and went to the doctor not long after to confirm the expected, that Dan and I are expecting! Knowing that I was pregnant was exciting, but it didn't totally outweigh the fact that I felt weak and sick all the time. I felt so bad at times that I considered canceling my trip to Spain (planned before Christmas). I'm glad I didn't. In spite of it being short, Madrid, some old friends, fried calamari and Spanish ham were exactly what I needed! I had quite a bit of all of them, and I am grateful for that. It was wonderful to walk in warmer weather, go rowing in Retiro (O.K., so it was Dan that did the rowing, but I thoroughly enjoyed the sun and water), and speak a language that I know! But, now I'm back, and back to work and school. This past week marked my 12th week of pregnancy and, thank God, what appears to be the beginning of the end of being sick. Today was my second visit to the doctor and second ultrasound.
It was amazing to see last time because I could see the heartbeat. This time, I couldn't see that, but the fetus was moving all over the place. The doctor laughed and said it was getting some exercise. There was a lot of arm flailing and back arching. Little signs of just what we've got ourselves into :-)
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Any Given Sunday
This has been my shortest, most painful weekend in recent memory. Last week was equally painful, but long. The muscles in my back reached a level of cramping that became unbearable by Monday. So, Tuesday evening I went for a Chinese full body massage. I don't know what it's called in Chinese, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was called something like "expensive pain."
Face-down on the massage table, I wanted to scream, but the pain was so strong that I could only gasp for air as the woman pushed, prodded and smacked my body. The height of pain came when she began to work on my back. Using my own body against me, she rolled the tensed muscles over my shoulder blade. She must have done this a million or so times to each side and I felt like I was going to pass out from holding my breath, waiting for it to end. When it did end, I felt fine. If I had the memory of a fish, I wouldn't have known that some small Chinese lady had just beat the crap out of me.
The next day it felt like someone had punched me in about a dozen different places in my back. As I went about my day, though, it seemed to get better, so I had another brilliant idea, YOGA! It felt good to get a little exercise, but my back still felt tight. Massage, ibuprofen, yoga, it all helped, but didn't solve the problem, so I had to go with the last resort. I went to the doctor.
Friday morning I headed off to the hospital where the doctor took a whopping 10 minutes to talk to me and inform me that I had twisted my vertebrae. My guess is that I did it about three weeks ago in yoga. Why did I wait so long to go to the doctor? Because I thought my discomfort was related to stress, not an injury. As it turns out, I was wrong. So, she prescribed me some medicine, including a muscle relaxant that I insisted I didn't need, and sent me downstairs to a Chinese physiotherapist. She looked at me far longer than the other doctor, poking and prodding to find out exactly where it hurt, and boy did it hurt! Then, she gave me an adjustment.
Saturday, my back was feeling a lot better, but I woke up with a nasty sore throat and runny nose, the exact symptoms Dan had a week ago!! It was downhill from there, in part because I had to go to work. We had a professional development day, and I was miserable. I left early because I started to have a fever. At home, I couldn't get comfortable or warm. My nose ran and my throat was hard and dry, making it difficult to swallow and breath.
Today I am not feeling much better. I was well enough to get some work done, but I still feel like crap. I'm hanging on to the highlights of my week, Korean food and a haircut on Friday with Marty. Originally, Dan was going to come out as well, but he was still sick with his cold, so just the two of us went. When we got back, we decided to get our hair cut. We tried the "new" place by our apartments.
Ushered in by our hair washers we sat down and they began our half hour head massage. It felt wonderful, but it was clear that my hair washer had never washed hair like mine before. Twisting, pulling, and rubbing long hair into a ball may not be problematic for the smooth straight hair that most Chinese people have, but I was expecting my hair to be one big nest. It was. After rinsing, it took three people to comb my hair, a half an hour to cut it straight across, and another 45 minutes for a moisturizing treatment. The last part was the best. They literally beat the conditioner into my hair, rolled perfect ringlets and attached me to a steam machine that looked like a shower cap attached to a vacuum hose. The steam came out from two little holes on the top, making me look like an angry cartoon character, think Yosemite Sam. Two and a half hours after stepping into the shop, I stepped out with some fabulous hair.
Face-down on the massage table, I wanted to scream, but the pain was so strong that I could only gasp for air as the woman pushed, prodded and smacked my body. The height of pain came when she began to work on my back. Using my own body against me, she rolled the tensed muscles over my shoulder blade. She must have done this a million or so times to each side and I felt like I was going to pass out from holding my breath, waiting for it to end. When it did end, I felt fine. If I had the memory of a fish, I wouldn't have known that some small Chinese lady had just beat the crap out of me.
The next day it felt like someone had punched me in about a dozen different places in my back. As I went about my day, though, it seemed to get better, so I had another brilliant idea, YOGA! It felt good to get a little exercise, but my back still felt tight. Massage, ibuprofen, yoga, it all helped, but didn't solve the problem, so I had to go with the last resort. I went to the doctor.
Friday morning I headed off to the hospital where the doctor took a whopping 10 minutes to talk to me and inform me that I had twisted my vertebrae. My guess is that I did it about three weeks ago in yoga. Why did I wait so long to go to the doctor? Because I thought my discomfort was related to stress, not an injury. As it turns out, I was wrong. So, she prescribed me some medicine, including a muscle relaxant that I insisted I didn't need, and sent me downstairs to a Chinese physiotherapist. She looked at me far longer than the other doctor, poking and prodding to find out exactly where it hurt, and boy did it hurt! Then, she gave me an adjustment.
Saturday, my back was feeling a lot better, but I woke up with a nasty sore throat and runny nose, the exact symptoms Dan had a week ago!! It was downhill from there, in part because I had to go to work. We had a professional development day, and I was miserable. I left early because I started to have a fever. At home, I couldn't get comfortable or warm. My nose ran and my throat was hard and dry, making it difficult to swallow and breath.
Today I am not feeling much better. I was well enough to get some work done, but I still feel like crap. I'm hanging on to the highlights of my week, Korean food and a haircut on Friday with Marty. Originally, Dan was going to come out as well, but he was still sick with his cold, so just the two of us went. When we got back, we decided to get our hair cut. We tried the "new" place by our apartments.
Ushered in by our hair washers we sat down and they began our half hour head massage. It felt wonderful, but it was clear that my hair washer had never washed hair like mine before. Twisting, pulling, and rubbing long hair into a ball may not be problematic for the smooth straight hair that most Chinese people have, but I was expecting my hair to be one big nest. It was. After rinsing, it took three people to comb my hair, a half an hour to cut it straight across, and another 45 minutes for a moisturizing treatment. The last part was the best. They literally beat the conditioner into my hair, rolled perfect ringlets and attached me to a steam machine that looked like a shower cap attached to a vacuum hose. The steam came out from two little holes on the top, making me look like an angry cartoon character, think Yosemite Sam. Two and a half hours after stepping into the shop, I stepped out with some fabulous hair.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Another Relaxing Weekend (for me)
Today marks the end of yet another somewhat relaxing weekend where I didn't get much of anything done. The weekend before last was the end of my week-long holiday and I spent it recovering from a pretty nasty cold. This weekend, I was healthy, but not very focused on what I needed to do. I spent a lot of time snuggling with Dan and Da Mi. We watched some movies and played outside a bit, but nothing very far from home. The farthest I went was actually to the vets to get Da Mi her first round of vaccinations. I was a little disappointed to find out that I still won't be able to take her outside for another three weeks! Apparently canine distemper and parvovirus are really common in Beijing because few people vaccinate their dogs. I can understand not vaccinating if you live in the middle of nowhere and your dog isn't exposed to much of anything, but in the city that just seems irresponsible and mean. Anyway, one shot down, three to go. Da Mi didn't like the vet. She peed on him twice and wouldn't go near him unless he pulled her close. I can't say I blame her. If the first thing someone did was to stick a cold piece of metal in my bum, I might not be very happy either!
Monday, September 29, 2008
I missed my Sunday posting!
I thought for sure if I picked one day a week to blog I would definitely do it. I failed. Fortunately, I feel it was totally justifiable because of what happened yesterday. It started off with a lazy morning, then coffee and work in the early afternoon. I wanted to get as much work done as possible on my paper that's due Thursday and I wanted to do my regular classwork as well. My goal is to have at least two days this week where I have absolutely nothing that needs to be done. It doesn't look particularly likely, but I'm still working for it.
After a couple of hours spent working on my paper, I headed home to let the puppy out. I didn't want to leave her alone for too long because she has had some trouble digesting some of the food I gave her (to put it lightly). Everywhere I read said it would happen, and she doesn't look like she's suffering, but I still feel bad sometimes. I went home, let her out. She peed and pooped on the newspaper and then everywhere else as well. I basically followed her around with toilet paper and a mop. Sometimes I think she just likes to watch me mop. I am so close to hiring a full-time ayi it's not funny. I don't really need a full time ayi to help care for my dog, but cleaning my house three times a week for about 10 dollars is certainly worth it!
Anyway, I did some work and played with the dog and Dan came back from yoga around 5:30. He sat down on the chair, put the dog on his lap and proceeded to let the dog fall off his lap, and not in any gentle sort of way. I usually get really pissy when I feel like he's not being gentle enough with Da Mi, but this time I was hysterical, because she was actually hurt. She was screaming and refused to walk on her right, hind foot. She wasn't very good at walking on three feet either, so she just kind of scooted to the washing machine (where she often goes to hide or sleep). I freaked out and was in tears, yelling at Dan, that I couldn't believe he just let her fall off his lap like that, and so on. He was being very patient and probably feeling more than a little guilty.
We basically rushed her out to the vet across the street, where they looked at her, but couldn't really help us because their x-ray machine was broken. They sent us to a different hospital where we paid 80 kuai (about 12 U.S. Dollars) for a visit with a doctor and x-rays. On the way there and the whole time in the hospital, Da Mi was so calm it freaked me out even more. She just wanted to snuggle and sleep. I had a massive headache, thought I was going to puke, and came really close to punching some people out. I slowly forgave Dan, and had a lot easier time of it when the x-rays came back and there was nothing wrong. Her bones looked strong and she had probably just bruised her foot. The doctors did ask what the heck she was eating, though, since her poop showed up in the x-ray. Turns out Chinese people don't think dogs should eat whole eggs or bones. Maybe they're right, but they also shouldn't eat toxic chemicals, so I'll pass on the dog food, thanks. When we got her home last night, she was already starting to walk on the foot a little (and continued to poop and pee everywhere). So, maybe I overreacted just a little...
This morning Da Mi has been fine, though clearly still hurting a little. She chewed her nice smelly chicken neck on some of our clothes to thank us for last night (they were dirty, but still). We even left her alone for a little while to go out to lunch. We had really delicious meal at an Indian place. We each had about 5 small dishes, plus bread and dessert for about 10 dollars. The food was well-prepared and the service was amazing! Now we're at the bookworm having some coffee. I was going to try to finish writing more of my paper, but I am too full and sleepy. It just isn't going to happen until I have a nap, and a snuggle with Da Mi!
After a couple of hours spent working on my paper, I headed home to let the puppy out. I didn't want to leave her alone for too long because she has had some trouble digesting some of the food I gave her (to put it lightly). Everywhere I read said it would happen, and she doesn't look like she's suffering, but I still feel bad sometimes. I went home, let her out. She peed and pooped on the newspaper and then everywhere else as well. I basically followed her around with toilet paper and a mop. Sometimes I think she just likes to watch me mop. I am so close to hiring a full-time ayi it's not funny. I don't really need a full time ayi to help care for my dog, but cleaning my house three times a week for about 10 dollars is certainly worth it!
Anyway, I did some work and played with the dog and Dan came back from yoga around 5:30. He sat down on the chair, put the dog on his lap and proceeded to let the dog fall off his lap, and not in any gentle sort of way. I usually get really pissy when I feel like he's not being gentle enough with Da Mi, but this time I was hysterical, because she was actually hurt. She was screaming and refused to walk on her right, hind foot. She wasn't very good at walking on three feet either, so she just kind of scooted to the washing machine (where she often goes to hide or sleep). I freaked out and was in tears, yelling at Dan, that I couldn't believe he just let her fall off his lap like that, and so on. He was being very patient and probably feeling more than a little guilty.
We basically rushed her out to the vet across the street, where they looked at her, but couldn't really help us because their x-ray machine was broken. They sent us to a different hospital where we paid 80 kuai (about 12 U.S. Dollars) for a visit with a doctor and x-rays. On the way there and the whole time in the hospital, Da Mi was so calm it freaked me out even more. She just wanted to snuggle and sleep. I had a massive headache, thought I was going to puke, and came really close to punching some people out. I slowly forgave Dan, and had a lot easier time of it when the x-rays came back and there was nothing wrong. Her bones looked strong and she had probably just bruised her foot. The doctors did ask what the heck she was eating, though, since her poop showed up in the x-ray. Turns out Chinese people don't think dogs should eat whole eggs or bones. Maybe they're right, but they also shouldn't eat toxic chemicals, so I'll pass on the dog food, thanks. When we got her home last night, she was already starting to walk on the foot a little (and continued to poop and pee everywhere). So, maybe I overreacted just a little...
This morning Da Mi has been fine, though clearly still hurting a little. She chewed her nice smelly chicken neck on some of our clothes to thank us for last night (they were dirty, but still). We even left her alone for a little while to go out to lunch. We had really delicious meal at an Indian place. We each had about 5 small dishes, plus bread and dessert for about 10 dollars. The food was well-prepared and the service was amazing! Now we're at the bookworm having some coffee. I was going to try to finish writing more of my paper, but I am too full and sleepy. It just isn't going to happen until I have a nap, and a snuggle with Da Mi!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Starbucks Rocks the Milk Scandal!
I came to Starbucks to work, because I know I will want to sleep if I stay home. It's a wonderfully rainy day. Since there is less pollution in Beijing still, there continues to be evidence of real weather (i.e. rain, sunshine, and clouds) as opposed to the usual monotone grey sky and dust storms. But I digress. Starbucks no longer offers milk here, period. They don't even let you choose if you mind dying a painful death or not. Instead, it is soy milk for everything, and they've got advertising telling you how wonderful it tastes too! There is a sign that says "Try our new vanilla soy latte!" as if you have a choice! In spite of myself, I actually like the soy latte. In different times, I would not order it, but times are tough, and I guess I should be grateful that some companies still believe in somewhat ethical conduct.
In other news... there is no other news. I continue to be swamped with work and school, but I can't complain. My life is wonderful. My boyfriend still loves me in spite of me and my puppy is growing big, though maybe not as tall as Dan would hope. I only wish I was closer to my family.
In other news... there is no other news. I continue to be swamped with work and school, but I can't complain. My life is wonderful. My boyfriend still loves me in spite of me and my puppy is growing big, though maybe not as tall as Dan would hope. I only wish I was closer to my family.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
A Walk in the Park
The only thing easy in my life right now was brunch and the walk in Chaoyang Park that we took today. It was a beautiful day and Dan and I just sat on the edge of the lake for an hour and a half. In spite of the fact that school has only been going for two weeks now, I really needed this three day weekend. I have been working hard to teach, working hard to study for two grad classes, and spending a lot of time with my new puppy. I am exhausted and trying not to get sick!
Last night we said goodbye to our friend Matt, who is heading home to coach swimming before taking a job in Germany. We went to Hatsune for some really delicious Japanese food and tried to make plans to see each other again soon. Soon, I've found, seems to get further and further away as I get older. Soon used to mean a couple days from now, or next week. Then I went to college and it meant in a couple months. When I left the States, soon started to mean in 6 months to a year. Now, it often means two years, maybe more! I'm not sure where the time goes.
Today we had brunch with Filipa and Stan before our escapade in the park. Delicious food and good company makes me smile. I ate bread, which I haven't done in about two weeks, but it was totally worth it. As long as I'm going to eat something with wheat in it, I might as well binge. So, binge I did! I haven't been good about keeping the corn out lately anyway, so bad skin is to be expected. I'll just have to be extra careful this week!
It's far easier to control my diet than it is to control stress. I have a lot on my plate right now, and I am constantly preoccupied with my puppy. Something about actually managing to save her, with a LOT of help from my friends has made me worry even more. She's about three and a half weeks old now and appears to be really healthy, so there's not much to worry about. Oddly enough, I find things. Maybe she's a little sleepier or not gaining as much weight or fell off the bed, and I worry about every little thing. It's stupid, I know, but I can't help myself. I feel like it's my duty to protect her! I've also been struggling with the fact that she's looking like a big dog. At three and a half weeks, she's about four pounds. Beijing doesn't allow dogs over 35 centimeters or 14 inches, so unless she's just going to stop growing up and start growing out, I might have a problem. I'd be willing to pay the 5,000 RMB fine if that means that I can register and keep her, but I'm not sure that's the case and I don't want them to take her away and kill her. And they would. They are pure evil!
Last night we said goodbye to our friend Matt, who is heading home to coach swimming before taking a job in Germany. We went to Hatsune for some really delicious Japanese food and tried to make plans to see each other again soon. Soon, I've found, seems to get further and further away as I get older. Soon used to mean a couple days from now, or next week. Then I went to college and it meant in a couple months. When I left the States, soon started to mean in 6 months to a year. Now, it often means two years, maybe more! I'm not sure where the time goes.
Today we had brunch with Filipa and Stan before our escapade in the park. Delicious food and good company makes me smile. I ate bread, which I haven't done in about two weeks, but it was totally worth it. As long as I'm going to eat something with wheat in it, I might as well binge. So, binge I did! I haven't been good about keeping the corn out lately anyway, so bad skin is to be expected. I'll just have to be extra careful this week!
It's far easier to control my diet than it is to control stress. I have a lot on my plate right now, and I am constantly preoccupied with my puppy. Something about actually managing to save her, with a LOT of help from my friends has made me worry even more. She's about three and a half weeks old now and appears to be really healthy, so there's not much to worry about. Oddly enough, I find things. Maybe she's a little sleepier or not gaining as much weight or fell off the bed, and I worry about every little thing. It's stupid, I know, but I can't help myself. I feel like it's my duty to protect her! I've also been struggling with the fact that she's looking like a big dog. At three and a half weeks, she's about four pounds. Beijing doesn't allow dogs over 35 centimeters or 14 inches, so unless she's just going to stop growing up and start growing out, I might have a problem. I'd be willing to pay the 5,000 RMB fine if that means that I can register and keep her, but I'm not sure that's the case and I don't want them to take her away and kill her. And they would. They are pure evil!
Monday, July 28, 2008
A long, long time ago...
I can still remember how... I used to blog here now and then. And I can't be sure what my excuse is this time, but I'll bet it's the same old thing. Life happens and I haven't been organized or dedicated enough to keep going with this regularly.
Tonight is my last night in the D.C. area for this year. I have spent five very short weeks here, and I'm just a touch reluctant to leave. Classes, and with them all the stress, just ended Friday. I finally have time and mental energy to do what I want, but it's time to move on.
In spite of the work, there were some highlights. I saw friends that I haven't seen in years, lots of them, though not all of them. I met a lot of great people that I hope to keep in touch with. Most astonishingly, perhaps, I ran without suffocating! I'm a fresh air addict and it's near impossible to get a fix in Beijing! To offer a small glimpse into the reality of Beijing pollution, I will tell you that I can run for about 10 minutes there before I feel like my lungs are crusting over. Here I can run for half an hour. Yes I break a sweat, but no I don't feel like my chest is imploding. It's funny because I was starting to think I was just getting old, but this break from bad air has been reassuring!
The good stuff just kept on coming this summer, so I have a lot to be thankful for. I know a list doesn't quite cut it, but it's what I've got. In no particular order, I'm utterly grateful for...
...my friends from former lives who still make me feel like I belong, even though I keep abandoning you to go on my fantastic voyages.
...my awesome roommates who made me laugh and kept me sane.
...all the cool people in the program (FAST TRAIN, not AA) that shared stories and ideas.
...Screen on the Green.
...Dan, who has an uncanny ability to just appear places.
...crab.
...sun, blue skies, greenery, and the smell of fresh air.
...crickets.
...and, why not, vegetables.
My summer isn't over, though. Tomorrow I head to Kentucky to visit family, before going back to New York, and visiting more family, for a couple of weeks. I'll get to spend time with people I care about and do a lot less work than I have been. Life is good!
Tonight is my last night in the D.C. area for this year. I have spent five very short weeks here, and I'm just a touch reluctant to leave. Classes, and with them all the stress, just ended Friday. I finally have time and mental energy to do what I want, but it's time to move on.
In spite of the work, there were some highlights. I saw friends that I haven't seen in years, lots of them, though not all of them. I met a lot of great people that I hope to keep in touch with. Most astonishingly, perhaps, I ran without suffocating! I'm a fresh air addict and it's near impossible to get a fix in Beijing! To offer a small glimpse into the reality of Beijing pollution, I will tell you that I can run for about 10 minutes there before I feel like my lungs are crusting over. Here I can run for half an hour. Yes I break a sweat, but no I don't feel like my chest is imploding. It's funny because I was starting to think I was just getting old, but this break from bad air has been reassuring!
The good stuff just kept on coming this summer, so I have a lot to be thankful for. I know a list doesn't quite cut it, but it's what I've got. In no particular order, I'm utterly grateful for...
...my friends from former lives who still make me feel like I belong, even though I keep abandoning you to go on my fantastic voyages.
...my awesome roommates who made me laugh and kept me sane.
...all the cool people in the program (FAST TRAIN, not AA) that shared stories and ideas.
...Screen on the Green.
...Dan, who has an uncanny ability to just appear places.
...crab.
...sun, blue skies, greenery, and the smell of fresh air.
...crickets.
...and, why not, vegetables.
My summer isn't over, though. Tomorrow I head to Kentucky to visit family, before going back to New York, and visiting more family, for a couple of weeks. I'll get to spend time with people I care about and do a lot less work than I have been. Life is good!
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