Nervous About Coming Home

Weird, but I am. I couldn’t figure out why it was taking me so long to pack and make final arrangements in getting home. And I noticed that I have same funky stomach that I had in February, and I seem to be spending a massive amount of time doing chores that really don’t need to be done. It must be nerves. But why? I am leaving an environment that I have learned to adapt to but it isn’t home. Do I dread the jet lag that much? (Yes) Has this experience changed me so much that my Georgia home feels foreign to me? I guess this is part of what all soldiers feel when coming home, but I would have never guessed it would happen to someone who went away on a purely optional, non-combative, mid-life adventure.

Top Reason Why You Should Love Your Dryer & Lint Filter

This is my BLACK t-shirt after washing. ‘Nuff said

EUUUUWWWW....Nathan Ate A Bug

And he was not on any reality TV show such as Fear Factor, Amazing Race or Survivor. He decided that he wanted to experience eating a bug. (remember this is the guy that regularly eats the fish eyes) We were in WuShan Square picking up last minute souvenirs and where one of the meat stick restaurants (they call it Bar-B-Que) had a variety of bugs and strange seafood items on sticks. They all had exoskeletons and legs. He narrowed it down to 3 tasty choices: 4 cicadas on a stick, 3 grasshoppers on a stick or 1 tarantula on a stick. He opted for the grasshoppers. He said that it sort of tasted like the scrapings off the bottom of a burnt saucepan but he said the coating tasted pretty good. No, he didn’t finish the 3 grasshoppers.

Side Note: On the same ‘gutsy eating’ subject -- I want to have an ‘ice cream’ party before I leave China. I say ice cream very loosely because some of them are not made using any cream. I propose that a bunch of us buy some of the weird things they have on a stick and in a freezer that resemble an ‘ice cream bar’ and sample each one. There are black ones made from sesame seeds, bean ones, green ones and other very strange concoctions. Remember the descriptions and list of ingredients are in Chinese so it is hard to interpret. I figure out of 10 or so ot the really strange ones, I might find something new and interesting that I like. It might even be healthier than my favorite Magnum bars!

Stella, My Personal Style Consultant

I met Stella at a Sunday English Corner and was complaining that I could only buy men’s’ shoes and clothes here. She said she knew of a place that sells products for overseas. Translate that to “clothes for big people”. We got together last week and went thru hundreds of little stalls inside 2 big buildings. Most of the stuff was small in size but really cute. Nicole would have a ‘field day’ (rather “field week”) here. There were also lots of men’s sports wear, t-shirts such as Quicksilver, Dolce & Gabana and other ‘Name brands’, but most important there were 3 stalls where I actually found 2 FEMALE tops and a vest. I got a taxi card from one of the places so I can return on my own. I will probably do most of my shopping when I am back for my 3 weeks but it is sure nice to know that I can outfit myself if I have to. Oh, I forgot to mention that I didn’t pay more than $2.50 for each item. Female shoes still didn’t look promising. I saw nothing over a 38, (about an 8 ½ ) I wear a 42 (size 10) in European size.

Side Note: - Taxi Card did not work. Yesterday, Nathan and Elizabeth wanted to see these bargain clothes stalls so we rode an hour into HangZhou and gave the taxi driver the card. He just shook his head, but I sort of knew that it was close to the train station, so he left us off there and we found our way on foot.

To All My "Stuffed Monkeys"

After I got off of Skype with Gail this morning, I was thinking how much courage you guys give me from so far away with your Skyping and emails. It made me think back to the old 50’s Harlow Experiment movies they made you watch in the psychology and sociology classes about a live monkey being alone in a large box with a stuffed ‘surrogate’ monkey. Granted his experiments must violate a dozen of today’s animal rights laws but it was different time. Anyway, the monkey would go exploring and then get a little nervous, or scared or lonely and run back to his box and hug the stuffed monkey for a period of time then go off exploring again. You all are my stuffed monkeys. You guys made it possible for me to feel secure enough to leave my normal predictable environment to go adventuring and you guys make it possible for me to remain because I know I can always get comfort and courage whenever needed thru the magic of Skype, iChat and email. Thanks for being my stuffed monkeys!

Tea House

Cynthia is drinking some royal tea (sorry, forgot the type) in a special cup. You use the lid to cool the tea and strain off the tea leaves.

Tea House

A couple of weeks ago Cynthia took me to a tea house. You pay a set price 50-70 RMB (6-9 bucks), pick your specific tea variety and then eat anything you want from their buffet. You can stay for hours. It is a great way to try different Chinese food items. Fruits, snack items, meats, soups, seafood, dried items, vegetables and much more. See that white thing with the black specks in it at the end of the chopsticks. It is a fruit which I would have never had the guts to buy, but I ended up liking it. I also enjoyed a white eyeball textured fruit aptly named ‘dragon eye fruit”. Ditto, on actually buying it before trying it! I still need a little hand holding to venture into deeper waters. Thanks Cynthia.