Home

I think this was actually the longest I've ever been away from Philly. It was about a month longer than my semester in Paris in college. For some reason, even though a lot has happened the past few months it didn't feel like I was gone for long.

Since I was home, I didn't do anything terribly exciting. I spent time with my family and friends including 6 kids (4 of them are under a year old and 2 of them are under a month old). I think everyone I know is having a baby, it is crazy! Other than that I went to Old Navy three times to stock up on clothing to bring back to Shanghai and took multiple trips to various banks so I could transfer money from our Chinese bank account back home. I also went to most of my favorite restaurants - Peace of Pizza, Cafe de Laos, Cheesecake Factory, Blue Sage, Jones, Continental, Delancy Street Bagels, Morning Glory, Chat n Chew. I may have gained a few pounds... oh well.

I said we should invite some family to have a casual dinner and my mom planned a party with 20 people and a large welcome home sheet cake. I was happy she is doing well and was up for company, although the party was a bit much. My friend Gina helped organize a really nice dinner at Blue Sage with some friends from Drexel. I also got to meet a few friends throughout the week and went to NY to see my nieces. I felt like I should have made more effort to see everyone but it was a really short trip and I wanted to spend time with my parents. I'll be back for longer in the summer anyway. 

Since I've been seeing people at home I found myself inundated with a wide variety of questions about life in China from how's the weather to are you happy there. People who regularly read this blog in particular said I don't sound thrilled a lot of the time. I was a bit stressed out about some things happening at home which I feel much better about now that I've had the chance to visit. Overall things here are pretty good though.

Truthfully, I've always been a bit of a cynic. My favorite drawing teacher in college had a running joke about my dark side. I have a tendency to look at the negative side of life in my drawings and apparently it also comes through in my blog. I really have nothing to be cynical about, I live overall a rather privileged life, especially compared to the locals in China that live 12 to a room or carry around 10 foot high stacks of boxes on carts attached to their bicycles. I'm working on being more of a glass half full type person... I'm much better about it than I was in college at any rate. Danny is a good influence on me since he's the most optimistic person I know.

Being home really made me reflect on life in China. While I was on Skype with Danny he asked if I missed anything in China, aside from him of course - which is the main thing I missed. I didn't have much of a reply at the time but there are things I would have missed if I didn't go back. When I lived in Paris for a semester in college by the time I got home I was nearly ready to kiss the ground the way immigrants did at Ellis Island. In retrospect there are a few things I really liked about Paris but I don't miss it enough to want to go back. I really did want to return to China, even if it was mostly because I missed Danny.


If we were to leave China now I also would miss:

1 The chance to learn about a history and a culture I learned very little about in school.

2 The opportunity to visit cities and towns I never even heard of before.

3 Our proximity to Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia, etc. and the ability to take trips there inexpensively. (So far we only made it to 2 of those countries but we have 1 and 1/2 or 2 and 1/2 years left.)

4 The people we met.

5 Pizza and movie nights with the grad students.

6 How cheap everything is (transportation, restaurants, haircuts, ect.)

7 Daily maid service in our apartment.

On the other hand I won't miss:

1 Being so far from friends and family (aside from Danny).

2 The Great Firewall.

3 The slow internet.

4 Not having a dryer or an oven.

5 Chinese banquet meals.

6 Depending on Danny to communicate (it is getting better now that I've learned a few words of Chinese).
7 The personal hygiene habits of some of the locals.