While I was out...

I suppose I should have expected that I would not have been able to live-up to my expectations to have posted at least one entry while on my whirlwind three-and-a-half week tour of the United States. Still, I am disappointed in myself for not writing just once. I barely even wrote in my personal journal. And I find that when I procrastinate [or avoid prioritizing] my written reflections, I tend to forget the pithy phrasings and descriptive language to which I sometimes dedicate hours of internal editing.

Alas! I have forgotten some of the whimsical and some of the refined observations on America and my American interactions that all seemed strangely familiar.

Flatirons, CO

Year One Done: Go Team 外教 （Waijiao）

Learn to live in China Lesson 984: Peace signs and smiles at Longji Rice Terraces

I will begin my nearly-48-hour-voyage to New York (to visit HermHana) on Wednesday at 8 a.m. Here is a rough map of my trip:

Nanjing flight to Shenzhen (11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.)
Shenzhen bus to Hong Kong airport
Hong Kong flight to Seoul (12:45 a.m. - 5 a.m.)
Seoul flight to Chicago (11:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.)
Chicago flight to New York (2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.)

By the time I arrive on my sister's stoop, I will undoubtedly be burnt--it will be somewhere around 6:30 a.m. on my internal clock which may or may not get rewired somewhere over the North Pole.

I have had a roller coaster year that shifted my state of mind from excitement to confusion to heartbreak to disillusionment to isolation to engagement to intrigue to acceptance to complete enjoyment and back to excitement. That last excitement is for how last year ended as well as for this coming year (and for this). I have moved to Nanjing, and my first impressions are promising ones. I am hesitant to get ahead of myself (learning from my past), but I hope to continue the latter trend of this past year's states of mind(s).

Here's to reverse culture shock:

Movies, Music, Books, T.V.:Defiance, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Rango, Bobby Bland, The Carrels, Thunder from the East by Nicholas Kristoff and Cheryll WuDunn, The Wire (finished and really liked--especially season 4), Freaks and Geeks, It's Always Sunny.