Hello everyone!
I have just spent the last week in the wonderful US of A. The week prior to that I had my final exam, which I personally felt went very well, but only received a measly "不错“ or "not bad" from my teachers. Oh well. You can't please everyone...So that week did not warrant a blog update since my days consisted of hard core studying and coffee drinking, with a small exception of some Halloween night festivities.
After our exams ended on Friday, the 2nd, a large (35+) group of IUPers gathered at a delicious GuiZhou restaurant organized by the wonderful Chris. Post-stuffing our faces on enormous amounts of delectable food, we headed to our friend Peter's house for a house-warming party. I was delighted by his choice to served hot mulled wine, a traditional European Christmas beverage. Anyone who knows me obviously understands my excitement about the introduction of a Christmas tradition in early November. :) The party was rudely ended by some neighbors literally throwing bricks onto the thick glass rooftop patio of Peter's apartment, and then followed by a brief police visit. Fortunately the glass did not break, no one was hit with a flying brick, and the police let us all go without incident.
Instead of returning home and going straight to bed, I got ready to go to the airport for by 6:45am flight. I got to the airport very early since I left over 3 hours before my flight due to a fear of not getting a taxi or some kind of crazy China thing getting in my way and delaying me. Once I got on the plane, I was dismayed by the treatment of the Chinese passengers by the airline stewardesses. It appeared that only 1 stewardess spoke Chinese, and several other Asian-American stewardesses did not. However of course the poor Chinese passengers could not figure out who they could communicate with, and the non-Chinese speaking stewardesses preferred to yell at and chastise all the Chinese passengers who could not understand them. As a "cultural ambassador" in China, I was appalled by the terrible disregard on the part of Delta for the obvious communication barrier. Of course most of the Chinese passengers don't speak English. Talking to them like they're idiots won't help. Instead, I tried to help translate for the poor old Beijing man sitting next to me, who had serious hand tremors going on for the whole flight. We briefly chatted about American politics (more on this issue here) and I explained to him how to play Sudoku, but mostly I couldn't understand him through his thick Beijing accent. The rest of my flight was uneventful, didn't sleep much but oh well. Even got upgraded on my flight from Detroit to Atlanta, woo Gold Medallion status!
Saturday afternoon I caught up with the family, took my camera over to be fixed, and then got a mani/pedi with my sister! That night I enjoyed a lovely home cooked meal courtesy of my darling mother. Sunday I went shopping with my mom and sister, which counted as my birthday presents! Among my favorite purchases: a gold sequined small square going- out purse with a tortoise-shell clasp; a navy and white polka dot robe lined in fleece; and black matte rubber rain boots with a bow on the side that double as snow boots when lined with Hunter fleece socks. Very excited about my gifts!! :) Also went spinning Sunday morning with my sister and dad- a big step up from spinning in Beijing, where I basically just make up my own routine because I can't understand what they're saying.
Monday morning, I yoga-ed with my sis, and then spent the day doing emails and blogging and such. That night the family and I went to Restaurant Eugene, a very fancy southern gourmet restaurant, to celebrate Emily and I's upcoming birthdays. It was delicious!
Tuesday, I went and voted with my family. I was so lucky to be able to actually vote in person because many of my friends in Beijing never even received their absentee ballots, and had to vote via Emergency Ballot. Upon arriving at the polling station, there were several races and constitutional amendments that I didn't even know about. As someone who desperately tries to understand and research all the locals races, I was frustrated that I hadn't researched those votes. It's amazing that no matter how hard you try, it's almost impossible to be an educated voter for every thing you're voting on...Tuesday afternoon I went rock climbing with my dad at our favorite gym, and were unpleansantly surprised at how bad we were! I guess we've forgotten a lot of our technique as we haven't climbed in awhile. For dinner I went to my sister's house so that I could watch the votes roll in in a friendly environment
Wednesday I had a number of dr appts, and a hair appt at which I dyed my hair chocolate brown! Unfortunately my usual blonde highlights will not last a year in China without touch ups and I don't trust a Chinese hair salon with that, so Shawn (my lovely and trusted hair specialist) and I decided that brown would be easier to maintain as it's somewhat closer to (but definitely darker than) my natural hair color. Wednesday night we had an early Thanksgiving at my house with my Aunt and Uncle. It was so yummy! I have seriously the best mom EVER.
Thursday I had a few more appts, got a makeover with my mom, and had a delicious french lunch. Thursday night I went out with some girl friends from high school and had a great time catching up! :)
Friday I did some gentle yoga with my mom in the morning, and then got ready to come back to Beijing! Flew out that afternoon, and arrived here Saturday night.
Today I'm just getting unpacked and used to being back in Beijing. So good to be home!
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