Days of My Life

Last night, J and I slept at 5 a.m. because we talked from 3:15 to 4:30. Though we both were extremely sleepy, it was a nice talk that we hadn't had in a while because we both have been so busy with our own things. After about six hours of sleep, we woke up at 11. Half an hour later, we went to FEAST (what a pretentious name) for lunch, only to come back to sit around (and eat more), then go to the Westwood Library (which isn't as nice as I had hoped it would be) to pick up a book for my English 141 research paper. Lastly, we went to University Presbyterian Church for the "Woman and Man of God" conference. After two hours, we had (Thanksgiving) dinner there and came back. If it sounds like I didn't do anything academic today, it's true! At 11:30 p.m. we started watching "1408", which I whimsically borrowed from the Westwood Library. We actually finished that movie a while ago, but then I decided to watch one episode of "Gossip Girl" to calm...

It has been way too long since I last blogged. Talk about a hiatus! An unusually long one... Sadly, the fact that I haven't been writing for anything other than academics has begun to shine through my English papers. I'm so rusty with verbs, (written) puns, and even parallelism. Even worse, my T.A. pointed out not just one, but TWO, grammatical errors in my first paper, which I got a disheartening--but well-deserved--C+ on. We turned in our second paper last Wednesday, and should be getting the grades back this upcoming Friday. At least I got 37/40 on my English 141 midterm essay... That was comforting in that I wrote it in 30 or 40 minutes and seem to have done okay on it. Currently, I'm waiting for the last load of laundry to dry, then for dinner with all the cousins at the cousins-next-door's home because J is returning to Washington tomorrow (after a two-week break) to go to Afghanistan at the end of the month. When I think about it, I don't think I ever really ...

Apparently, I'm an emotional driver. I'm sure it started only recently, when I started to have to endure traffic on a regular basis and my sleeping hours diminished as working hours piled on. I thought I would be happy to have a job (or two), but I admit it: I'm miserable. It's been only one day of working two jobs at once, and two nights of thinking about quitting one, and I am an emotional wreck. And it doesn't help that the water turned off in the middle of my shower and that twice in one week I almost hit another car (neither time my fault)! And then, people stop at a red light on a two-lane road and don't signal left until the light turns green, leaving the non-turning driver behind to have to wait or go to the right lane--in which case waiting might still be required. Impatience most likely plays a huge role in this. I was doing so well with developing better patience, too! So I haven't written in about a month, and I haven't read (for pleasure) in...

me: I love you. him: I love you, too... me: But...? him: But only on Wednesdays! me: Okay. ...But you loved me yesterday, which was Tuesday, and the day before, which was Monday. And you loved me all last week! him: Oh, yeah. me: Does this mean every day is Wednesday? him: Yeah! me: Hmm, okay.

I downright miss Shanghai. Initially, I hated it. I hated the weather, the people, the city itself. But then I got used to the humidity, I tolerated the people, I grew to love the city. My heart has warmed up to Shanghai, and Shanghai has warmed up to me (in so many ways). My first week in Shanghai went by excruciatingly slowly because I was so bitter. Week two was amazing, from 朱家角 water village to 车墩 film park. At the end of that week, we decided to cut back on spending, so the third week wasn't too adventurous, though the three-day class field trip was spectacular enough to make up for the beginning of the week. 横店影视城 (Hengdian World Studios) and 杭州(Hangzhou) composed the hottest weekend I have ever experienced, but the trip was, again, spectacular. 西湖 in Hangzhou (Sunday, 7/24) Hello Kitty Cafe in Hangzhou (Saturday, 7/23) 横店影视城 (Friday and Saturday, 7/22-23) 徐家汇公园 (Tuesday, 7/19) Like the last days of anything else enjoyable, the last week of my Shanghai trip was bittersweet. ...

Currently, I am in the VILI International Hotel in 广州 (Guangzhou) for my official last night in China. My mother is snoring away even though it is barely past 10 p.m. Meanwhile, my stomach cramps are eating away at my spirit. I could say that guys have it so easy (Oh, look, I just said it!), but I'm sure there are things that bother them that don't bother us girls, too. Yesterday, my flight out of 上海 (Shanghai) was delayed by three hours due to unsuitable weather conditions on the route. I had already waited in the airport for three and a half hours before the original flight time because I had left the Jiao Tong University Faculty Club earlier than planned since everybody else seemed to be leaving, too. About the delay, I couldn't complain because 1) I had nobody to complain to, and 2) the weather was nobody's fault. So I just sat there... Finally, we took off from 上海虹桥机场 (Shanghai Hongqiao Airport) at 7:28 p.m. For the first half hour or so, witnessing lightning from ...

At Che Dun today, I accidentally ordered alcoholic coffee. Last week, one of my friends had ordered what he said was Irish coffee from KFC, and it was delicious--iced coffee with a lot of vanilla ice cream on top. So today when I sat down at the cafe at Che Dun, I asked for that, expecting the same thing. Then when it arrived, my friends said, "I thought you didn't drink. Why did you order that?" So, apparently, Irish coffee at any other place is coffee mixed with scotch or whiskey or whatever else, depending on the place. NO WONDER THE DRINK WAS SO EXPENSIVE. It was weird, but good. I was disappointed that the white part wasn't vanilla ice cream, though. It was whipped cream.