I'm alive!

On the Great Wall with some lovely girls from England that I travelled with.

I am probably now known across the web as the girl who does not update her blog, ever. I have a valid excuse, I promise. Here it is: up until I got an internet card a week ago, blogger, twitter, and facebook were all blocked on my computer. Thanks a lot, vpn that I paid for! And by I, I mean Wilson, who I will pay back with silk panda ties (sorry love, I’m not kidding, it’s sitting in my suitcase) as well as a fobbed-out wardrobe when I return for being a dear and dealing with my wanderlust ways.

Hopefully you’ve all been getting my emails or emailing me in the meanwhile because you miss me so freakin much. Anyway, after a month in Haining teaching primary school/high school and 2 weeks traveling around China (to answer your questions: Hangzhou, Suzhou, Beijing and yes, the Great Wall was mind blowing, but more on that later), I am finally back in Shanghai and here to stay. My plan was originally to be here until October but I’ve recently decided to extend my stay until January because the position I was offered at the university was conditional on me staying until the end of the semester, and I figured, why not? I have a place to stay, a wage I can live off of, and yet-unknown but probably infuriating and shocking experiences with Chinese culture to have in the near future (there are so many stories to tell I don’t even know where to start). Oh, and I’d like to perfect my Mandarin skills, obviously on the forefront of my agenda in China. Now can you see why an extended sojourn in Shanghai won out against my better judgment of going home and being a grown-up?

There’s much to catch you all up on, and I’ll start tomorrow -- after I tell my students about college life in the states, because slideshows about the educated, partying youth of America do not make themselves.

Bartholomew in a classic Chinese watertown setting. He's on a [classic chinese river] boat!

2 weeks

...until I leave for Shanghai! 

Kind of looks like Hong Kong, except with some different buildings? 

You're all probably thinking, finally, she gets back to writing about more interesting things (as reflected in the title of my blog). It occurred to me about a week ago that I won't be able to access Facebook while I'm in China (the horror!!), so luckily you can find out what I'm up to on here.

So, until October, I will be teaching elementary/middle school aged kids, trying to learn how to write in Chinese, exploring my roots, avoiding contaminated food items, surviving the 90% humidity (I am actually dreading this one, but it will be worth it in the end!), and of course the many places Bartholomew and I will visit. Plus more, I'm sure. I've never been to China before and besides my ability to speak Mandarin and all the stuff I learned in my college days about world government/economy/politics (which is not saying much for the cultural adaptation necessary once I get there), I know next to nothing. Thank goodness I know Mandarin.

This time around, I'm going abroad to teach -- English, of course (I don't know what anybody would learn if I tried teaching Chinese). I've been saving up for the past year, will be earning enough to support myself, and overall this trip is much more un-structured than the study abroad program I did in college. My first teaching gig is for the month of July in Haining, in the Zhejiang province (about 2 hours outside of Shanghai), and then I'll have a few weeks to kill before I start teaching at a university/high school program in Shanghai until I leave in October. I'm hoping I'll make some good friends to travel with -- I haven't thought too much about where I want to go yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

In all honesty, the fact that I'm actually leaving in two weeks hasn't even hit me. With my deadlines at work and a hectic social schedule to try and see everyone before I leave (everyone is coming home for the Summer just as I'm leaving!), I've been shoving all my travel planning onto the backburner. Anyway, this is just a heads up to let you know that I'm going back to my globe-trotting ways -- Hooray!!

Molly

Everyone, meet Molly:

 

Molly is a 2 year old miniature poodle we got in the beginning of May - her previous owners were moving out of the country, and she was almost on her way to the shelter until we found out about her from a friend. She's quickly charmed us all and assumed the position of family favorite. Her skills include escaping by jumping over the backyard wall (only to show up at the front door) and sitting on demand, and her interests are: being petted, human food, and watching/chasing (or getting owned by) squirrels, in that order. She is already up there on the list of things I will miss like crazy when I go to China -- like uncontaminated dairy products (i.e. ice cream) and arid climate -- I'm still formulating a plan on how I will survive without them. It's crazy how fast a little sheep in disguise can grow on you!  

I'm on my way to becoming the crazy dog lady. Watch, the next time I see you, I'll probably whip out some uber cute Molly photos that you did not want to spend 10 minutes gushing over. 

grad + bag

Congrats to my brainy boyfriend on his M.S.! Notice the distinctive gold collar (I kept calling it a "cape," which you have to admit sounds cooler) and what is peeking out from the bag.

 

And no, I am not one of those girls who subjects her boyfriend to being a purse-carrier, I just had to get a shot of Wilson and Bartholomew! 

judging a book by its cover

Penguin Books commissioned Jill Tamaki to make embroidered covers for some of their Classics (printed of course, not actually embroidered ones, sadly), and this one is one of my favorites. I think I need to add this copy to my personal library.

sweet succulents

This is the product of my afternoon (That is, after the extremely unproductive portion where I went out to run errands only to find out that EVERYTHING is closed on Easter... I swear the exact same thing happened last year). Fortunately, my mom is the owner of a variety of monstrous succulents, so I just went around snipping off tiniest ones, stuck them in the pot, and voila! This one may just have to go on my desk at work.

puppy shopping

I'd like this puppy in the window, please. (also available in desktop)

I've been dog shopping lately, and I was so excited all week to see a Westie this weekend (see extremely heart-melting puppy above), except somewhere along the way, I thought about buying from a breeder vs. adopting from the shelter, and the shelter won out. (btw, what do you think about the whole adopt vs. buy thing? Animals at the shelter obviously need a good home so much more, but if no one buys the puppies, don't they end up there too? ) 

So today, we went to the SPCA and I met the cutest little standard poodle mix - and we can take her home on Tuesday if we want her. She's the most charming little Benji-looking pup with a slight shagginess about her. The slightly ruffled-looking ones always get me... so cross your fingers that I'll be updating my blog with a new companion on Tuesday! 

I'm going green(er)!

From the Threadless Earth Day T-Shirt Challenge

How do you celebrate Earth Day? In honor of the holiday I'm evaluating my non-green habits and pledging to improve on them this year. So, to observe this year, I will:

1. Make a habit of taking my reusable grocery bags to the grocery store. They're in the car anyway, I need to stop being lazy/forgetting and go back to get them!

2. Carpool to work with dad whenever possible. Built-in pro: I won't oversleep my alarm.

3. Plant more vegetables in the garden this weekend. Flowers are nice and all, but since I've discovered that our garden is capable of growing monster zucchini, why not put that soil to work?

4. Start a compost pile. I've been meaning to do this -- now is the time!

5. Support more small and local businesses. I've been trying to do this more since Christmas shopping last year, but it's tricky sometimes with all those big box stores everywhere!

I've already started on #s 2, 3 and 5. Now it's time to establish these all as habits!!

EARTH, I'M COMING TO SAVE YOU! (hey, everyone only has to do their part - how are you saving Earth this year?)

something to remember

From The Great Chase by Natasha Noveski

The latter, I've found, is the story of life after college. Why wait for an adventure to come find you when you can embark on one yourself? Sometimes, you just have to close your eyes and jump in. (and hope for the best)

roses

Guess who got a surprise delivery at work yesterday? 

that's right, me!! 

What is it about red roses that spell out love and romance? Pink, yellow or white roses are just not the same. Counting down the days until I visit Wilson-- 3 more days! Thanks for the wonderful surprise, can't wait to see you!!