Sunday, August 14, 3:49 am, Nanjing Summer: A Tally

So here I am, 2 months from where I started, in my apartment, with my things packed up and ready to go. This scene is very reminiscent of how I started this summer.

But alas, 2 months have passed.
71 days
23 days of studying Chinese
22 days of teaching English
25 blog posts (26 if you count this one!)
531 vocab words
1 Master’s thesis edited
5 dinners with my host family
3 conversations with Sun laoshi
2 meetings with my tutor
1 weekend in Nantong
4 umbrellas (and at one point, 5)
4 books finished (Men are from Mars Women are from Venus, Animal Farm, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Eat Pray Love)
Countless rainy days
Countless orders of coffee and/or American breakfasts at Ellen’s
Countless metro rides

If I could quantify this summer, you know I would. Though, I don’t think I can.

Also, when I was making arrangements to stay here this summer the most common response I heard was “Your Chinese is going to get so good!” but I don’t think I can say that either.

Honestly, I don’t really have anything I can say that nicely wraps up this summer; I don’t really want to make any profound statements. But I like it this way. I’m SO happy I decided to stay in China this summer. I feel like I’ve come a long way since I was first dropped off in China, 6 months ago (like how I didn’t know how to order 饺子/dumplings or how to read the names of ANY fillings hahaha). And I feel like I’ve come a long way since the end of the semester (like how I cried because I was overwhelmed about moving 8 subway stops away from school and staying 2 months longer than all my friends).

Mom and dad, thanks for having faith in me and letting me stay in China for the rest of the summer! Friends, thanks for caring about me staying in touch! I’ll see everyone soon! <3

I feel like compared to when I’m in the U.S., I spend a lot more time getting stuck in things in China. The bathroom, bus doors, an elevator…

I was on my way down from my apartment when the elevator decided it didn’t want to go to the 1st floor. I couldn’t really tell if it was going up or down or what, but things were bumping and the doors weren’t opening. So yeah, just hanging out by myself trapped in an elevator. I pushed some buttons that looked like they could possibly be used to call for help and then some Chinese woman asked me a bunch of questions over the intercom. I just kind of sat there and said “我出不去 (I can’t get out)” and “我不知道我在几楼 (I don’t know what floor I’m on),” because I wasn’t sure what else she was asking. Eventually someone pried open the elevator doors and I crawled out onto the 7th floor.

This isn’t how I started my day thankfully. I had been up and about for about 3 hours earlier …packing!

It doesn’t really look too bad. Because it’s not. I’m pretty proud of my sense of sense of responsibility this week. I’ve been diligently bouncing between my apartment and school, making preparations for when I come back to China, making preparations for going home, buying gifts, treating people to dinner, staying goodbye. It’ll feel good when I leave China to know that I’ve handled my China relationships with care and I don’t really have any unresolved 事情. Also, I’ve been doing all this planning on my own. ACCOMPLISHMENT.

I treated myself to a 10 USD lunch today.

Well, I can’t claim accomplishment just yet. I need to mail a heavy box that belongs to a friend from last semester and I need to find a place where I can print a photo, this photo:

So I need to use these next two hours to find the post office and figure that situation out and find a place where I can make prints and buy a frame and figure that situation out. Then I invited my program director, Ping Ping, out to dinner tonight. We’re going to hot pot with her 2 friends, and then she’s taking me out for drinks.

Thursday, August 11, 12:02 pm

T-minus 3 days until take off.

Uhhhh …and I still don’t fully believe that I’m leaving. Even with everything I’m doing to get ready to come home.

Things I will miss about China/Nanjing

1. .55 cent street breakfast, .63 cent street dessert, .78 cent street fruit, in that order
2. My favorite 24 hour 饺子馆
3. Cheap delicious food in general
4. Cheap things in general
5. Drinking my yogurt instead of eating it with a spoon
6. Speaking Chinese whenever I want
7. Having endless time to study Chinese and endless means to practice it
8. Walking around the city by myself at night and feeling really peaceful
9. Coming home to an apartment I can afford
10. Getting greeted excitedly by the security guards every time I leave/enter my apartment complex
11. Feeling happy every time it rains
12. That feeling of success and accomplishment when I cross the street, dodge motor scooters like a pro
13. My host family and spending time with them
14. Talking with Sun laoshi about life and boys
15. My Chinese friends
16. Having a good reason to wear that ridiculous purple polo shirt with the yellow collar
17. Hearing “Hi Leslie!” from my young Chinese students/seeing that they’re excited to see me
18. Waking up to the sounds of the city and a soft breeze
19. Free coffee at Ellen’s
20. Going to Ellen’s and the fuwuyuan knowing exactly what I want: “美式早餐，炒鸡蛋，一杯咖啡，一杯冰水“
21. Ellen’s in general
22. Taking the Nanjing metro
23. Being somewhere, looking around, and realizing I’m the only foreigner
24. Not wearing make up or doing my hair, ever, because there’s no one here I have to/care to look good for.
25. Sitting alone at a café and sincerely enjoying me time
26. Updating my blog

Things I’m excited for when I go home

1. Seeing my mom, dad, and little brother
2. Seeing Carolyn, Sara, Kelly, and Suzanne at home
3. Sitting on the deck with my mom and dad in the morning and drinking tea/coffee and talking
4. REAL American food
5. Getting a hair cut
6. Reuniting with the rest of my clothing
7. Finally uploading all my pictures from last semester
8. Moving into my apartment with Tom and Jeff
9. Going food shopping and cooking dinner with Nick
10. Seeing all my F&M friends
11. Partayyyyys
12. Playing violin in the orchestra again
13. Taking Music Theory and Musicianship
14. Having a structured Chinese class again
15. Having other hobbies besides Chinese: African Dance, Pit Orchestra, Broadway Revue, Writer’s House
16. Not having to take the Nanjing metro
17. No more misbehaved children
18. Breathing fresh air (aka no longer breathing in dust and cigarette smoke every time I go outside)
19. Witty banter/sarcasm

Tuesday, August 9, 4:29 pm

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! ))))) I love you and I hope you have a beautiful day today!

SO.
That Chinese studying stuff, it’s not going over too well this week. It’s a little unfortunate, but I’m having trouble finding time to study between all the things I need to do to get ready to come. Also, my priorities aren’t straight, because I’ve also been reading, but not Chinese …oops.

Today I went to the bank and opened up a bank account in China. Holler.

I also went to the bookstore, and I might’ve gone a little overboard. I bought 3 books and a map of China. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, and Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Eat Pray Love was an impulse buy. I was originally going to read Lolita this week and then bring Musicophilia home to read before school started. BUT, I saw Eat Pray Love, the movie, this summer and I’m curious about the book. Also, maybe reading about someone else’s travels and experiences abroad (and especially alone) will help me reflect on my experiences and understand it better. So yeah, I’m going to start this book next and see how it goes.

My laptop isn’t charging (AGAIN) and I would really prefer if it did. I guess I’ll go back to school now and see if it charges there.

Sunday, August 7, 3:02 pm [Edit5]

Hey kids. So in exactly 7 days I’ll be in Beijing, about to board a plane to the U.S.

Even though THIS is my last week, I’ve definitely had a few “lasts” already.
Last meeting with my teacher from last semester (she went to Beijing for a training program because she got accepted to teach Chinese at a college in the U.S.!).
Last meeting with my tutor (she’s going home).
Last time going to the super market with my roommate.
Last weekend.

I’m eating dinner with my host family tonight, but I hope it’s not my last! I really want to see them one more time next week.

So yeah, one more week. I’m really excited, but in a way it doesn’t feel real just yet. I caught the lazy bug and I haven’t really been getting anything done lately. As in, I haven’t been too focused on studying or doing much to get ready to come home. Correlation or causation? I’ve just been talking about coming home with everyone lmfao.

By the way, Little Drummer Boy, the Christmas song, is playing right now in this cafe.

Ok, back to business. Maybe if I delegate things to days, I’ll do the things I need to do.

Monday:
X

Tuesday
X

Wednesday
X

Thursday
X

Friday:
X

Saturday:
X

Things I’ve completed:
Saw my tutor before she went home (Thursday, August 4)
Picked up my paycheck (Sunday, August 7)
Emailed my Weis sibling (Sunday, August 7)
Ordered one of my two textbooks lol (Monday, August 8)
Opened a bank account (Tuesday, August 9)
Went to the bookstore (Tuesday, August 9)
Wrote the english draft for my host families letter (Tuesday, August 9)
Treated Alexia to dinner (Tuesday, August 9)
Went shopping in Xinjiekou (Wednesday, August 10)
Went to the 5th floor of Zengxianzi lou, acquired an e-mail address, not much else (Wednesday, August 10)
Translated my note to my host family with Eva (Wednesday, August 10)
E-mailed my employer (Thursday, August 11)
Did some research and E-mailed about the Confucius scholarship (Thursday, August 11)
Went shopping at Fuzimiao (Thursday, August 11)
Asked mom to schedule a haircut for me (Thursday, August 11)
Did a little packing (Thursday, August 11)
Brought almost all the things I want to store to school (Friday, August 12)
Made a print of a picture of Alice and I and purchased a frame to put it in (Friday, August 12)
Found the post office at Gulou, mailed Max’s box, and figured out what I need to do to mail things (August 12)
Ate dinner and drank with Ping Ping (August 12)
Mailed my books back home (August 13)
Bought a container and packed my stuff away in the conference room (August 13)
Bought flowers for my ayi and shushu (August 13)
Bought DVDs for Stephen and a Chinese movie for myself (August 13)
Hand wrote my letter to my ayi, shushu, and meimei (August 13)
Packed (August 13)

I hope I’m not forgetting anything.

Tuesday, August 2, 11:50 am

I’m back from the countryside, postin up in my favorite café, going to hit the books after I write this entry.

And by write this entry, I mean post a bunch of pictures.

6:00 am view from Eva's balcony

I realized all the green looks like grass from afar, but it’s all various crops. The tall ones near the walk way are corn!

Eva's house

Street view

Backyard

Playing in the garden with Eva

Thinking about life and fresh produce

Did you know peanuts actually look like this?

I don’t know what we do to our poor peanuts, but Eva’s parents grow them and they actually look like this fresh out of the ground. Super yummy too.

Peanut art

Speaking of which, Eva thinks peanuts are my favorite food lmao. Here I am posing with my favorite plants.

Peanut plants

Eva had some fun animals chillin’ around her house.

Goat

Chicken

Eva’s grandma was one of the coolest looking ladies I’ve ever seen. I snuck a picture of her.

Grandma

Fresh to death

Seafood

南通 (Nantong) is by the sea, so I ate lots of fresh seafood during my stay. I also got to make these! I helped Eva and her mom hand wrap them. I’m shadily referring to this food as “these” and “them” because they are not 饺子 (jiaozi/dumplings). 饺子 is a type of dumpling made in northern China, this type of dumpling is the type made in southern China. They have a different name. And I forgot it. Oops.

Look mom! I made these!

All cooked up, so beautiful m i rite?

This is a bed

Believe it or not, this is a bed. If your wondering where the mattress is, so was I. Sleeping on this bamboo-on-wooden-frame was comparable to sleeping on the ground outside. Although, when you sleep on your bed instead of in your bed it eliminates the problem of “getting out of bed” in the morning. You just have to sit up and and start your day at 6:00 am.

Goodnight, 南通

Twilight view on my last night in 南通.

Oh also, on the way  back to Nanjing, I’m pretty sure a lady in the market asked me if I was pregnant. Apparently I’m fat now, if you couldn’t tell from the pictures. When you see me in 2 weeks, don’t be too worried. I didn’t get knocked up in China, I’m just chub.

I’ll wrap this up by saying, the countryside was fun and I’m glad I went. BUT I’m really happy to be back in Nanjing. I’ve missed the city; sleeping in, coffee, diversity (read: walking around like I’m just another person that lives in Nanjing). Maybe I’ll have a commentary on this tomorrow. But on the real, it’s time to study.

Friday, July 29, 11:35 am

What time is it?

It’s adventure time!

 

I’m off to the countryside, sans computer. Be back sometime on MONDAY.