When I look at the
date and see it is August 4th, it is weird.
Despite the extreme heat and humidity, I don't feel like it is
summer. I don't really know why. Maybe it's because I LOVE summer at home, so
nothing feels quite the same.
I was asked during
my 4th week here if I was homesick. My
answer was no, and that I felt I had done a good job of mentally preparing
myself for the time I was going to be here.
Well, I can officially say that as of week 5 & 6, I was incredibly
homesick. What was odd to me about these
feelings hitting so hard is that it was during that time my parents were
visiting. And then my Uncle and his
girlfriend. And then Kris. You'd think surrounded by the people who love
me the most in life, I'd be SO happy, and don't get me wrong, I was! But, it also made me realize how much I MISS
everyone and my little life back at home.
One day I was walking to go get some lunch by myself, and I got the
biggest lump in my throat and had to fight back tears because I was thinking
about my friends. The good thing is I am
so lucky to have the amazing friends that I do.
And, guys, I miss you all SO MUCH.
I cannot wait to see all of your faces!!!! Even writing this, I'm getting choked
up. Damn.
So the week with my
parents was great. I have to give them
huge props for venturing to China in the summer, as it is hot & humid and
then more hot. But, they did it and they
had fun, saw things they'd never seen, and we shared lots of good laughs,
conversations, and meals (and drinks!) in the hot, humid, China nights.
My week with Kris
was awesome. He is the best travel
partner and always up for anything. We
met up in Shanghai and within 20 minutes of walking around, we found a street
corner with local food carts, and ordered up.
This is seriously his favorite thing to do, so not only was I happy that
we found a place, but the food was SO GOOD.
Those are my favorite kinds of memories, sitting on a corner in a
foreign city, trying their food, drinking their beer, and watching the life
unfold. So fun. Even though we only had 3 nights together in
Shenzhen, I took Kris to a bar that I think is brilliant and it quickly became
"our spot" and each night we started out there with a few beers. This place is genius. It is a coffee shop/'convenience store' that
only sells beer by the bottle, and is lit like a swanky bar. They have beers from all over the world, and
you go in, choose what you want, pay for it, and then have a seat. I can't get over the concept and just think
it is amazing. We had so much fun! Hong Kong was another new adventure, and true
to form, we found 2 local places to eat that were incredible. One was on an island off of HK that served
fresh seafood. We'd gone to the island
with ideas of the beach, and were a little saddened to find a very sleepy town,
and a beach with no waves. It was kind
of like a small bay. We wandered around,
sweat our butts off, and decided to stop to eat. Thankfully we did, because the seafood was
awesome, the beer was ice cold and we had a fun conversation with a hilarious
Australian dude. The next day, we again,
wandered into a small local restaurant in the city near our hotel, and totally
hit the dumpling jackpot. I am wishing I
could beam myself back to that place right now and am figuring out a way I can
go there one more time before I head back.
I knew going into
this that I'd learn a lot. And I
have. I guess what I didn't realize was
just how much I'd learn about myself.
The one glaring thing that showed its face during my family visit, is
how hard I am on myself. I put so much
pressure on myself to make everyone's time here perfect and full of fun and
adventure. I was too concerned that
everyone would think their trip wasn't spectacular and that they'd had wasted
hours. Navigating a huge city filled
with people isn't easy on your own, but trying to play tour guide while working
full time and with a huge language barrier is a lot to ask of anyone. All I could think about was how much money
and time everyone took and spent to get themselves there, and during these
moments of frustration I was completely missing the fact that everyone that was
visiting me was there for one reason only.
ME! I've caught glimpses of this
pressure I put on myself in other situations in life, but I think it was
magnified over here. It's really made me
stop and think, and as Kris says "take a deep breath".
Another thing I
realized is that I need to put myself out there more. I don't think this is something I have a
problem with at home. :) But I do feel like I've been a bit reserved
here and I've promised myself that over the next 5 weeks I am really going to
make a bigger effort with my coworkers to do things outside of work and learn
more about them and their lives. I've
been somewhat hesitant to be too forward because I reversed the situation and
thought how I would feel if every day some person who was on rotation in my
office was asking me to do things. But,
I think we're at a point now where I won't come across as some eager American
and I do think they like me, so here goes!
This entire trip has
flown by, so because of that I know these last 33 days will go by even
faster. Especially with the work
schedule I have, I feel like I'll wake up sooner than I know it and it will be
time to head home. I won't lie and say
that I'm not super excited to get back home, but I also realize the enormous
value of this opportunity and I plan to make the most of the rest of my time
here. I hope everyone has had an amazing
summer and to those of you who have been diligent at keeping in touch, I love
you for it. I cannot wait to come home
and drink a frosty Chelada (hint, hint, Kris) and catch up with everyone. Love love!
Cheers!
