catching up part 1 October 23rd, 2011

Huge lunch party yesterday totally made me feel like I exploded from all the food. I think I had a massive food coma, which absolutely did not help my jet lag at all. I got home around 15h-ish. I believe I passed out on my bed around 17h-ish, waking up around 21-ish when my friend called telling me that we’re going shopping the next day. I stayed up for about another 2 hours just doing some stuff and reading before falling back asleep again. And this morning, I woke up around…4:30-5ish. I’m actually pretty surprised that I’m not dying from the lack of sleep at the moment (it’s 4:43pm). Good thing my friend invited me to dinner at 6pm. It gives me incentive to try to stay up and not sleep.

There were so many relatives yesterday that I absolutely do not remember at all. Most of them asked me, “ do you remember me” to which my response was “….no.” Or they’d exclaim to me, “oh my gosh! You’re so big now. I remember you were only up to here (gesturing).” To which my response was “….oh my gosh…” 

I really need to get back to running when I get back to the states, or else I feel like I’m going to explode soon from all this deliciousness.  To be fair, I am moving quite a bit, but I think I’m eating more than I’m moving.  That is definitely not the ideal situation for me. I’ve probably eaten more in 5 days than I have in a month.

And today…I went shopping today. I’m almost done buying the stuff on my list. But seriously I need to get back to studying. I haven’t really done any Russian stuff in awhile, except memorize cases. I’m done with the nouns, but I haven’t memorized the adjectives. Ideally, I’d like to memorize the adjectives by the time I leave China.  That way, I can get more learning done when I get back to the states. I’m sure my roommate would love to torture me with more Russian. Not that I mind, since Russian is like the only thing that can completely distract me from anything. I love it. Since I have that dinner tonight, perhaps I can get some studying done tonight, and hopefully, not fall asleep too early. I’m going to try super hard to get some studying done tonight.

In a week, I’m going to Beijing. Having not been there since 2006, I’m pretty excited to be getting there and seeing what Beijing has to offer. I’ll also be visiting my other relatives and staying with them. Those 3 days in Beijing will go by super fast, I know. So I’ll have to make the most of my time over there. I’d like to visit the Forbidden Palace again, and see Tiananmen Square.  I can’t wait to take some pictures over there.

Over the past few days, I’ve managed to talk to a few people, tax drivers, sales people and ask them 2 questions:

What do you think of China’s development, and whether or not you like it?

Do you think the wage you’re being paid can keep up with the inflation?

Most of the response I got was no, the wage can’t keep up with the rate of inflation. And on the subject of development, some said they think China is developing too fast, or too slow, or can’t tell. One person I asked graduated from middle school, but had no further education since then. Another person told me that he thought China is like Russia, and that Putin is doing a pretty good job managing the country. I was like….. wow. Seriously. Wow.  I mean, he did to some extent, but at what expense? I should ask more people about this later on.  

Last night, I was missing Lyon for no reason at all, and I was missing Lyon like crazy. Memories kept on running through my mind regarding the things I did, experienced and learned there. I can’t help but miss it.  It was my home for 9 months. 9 glorious months of dreams, wishes and hopes. I’d give anything to go back. I can’t stop thinking about the walks next to the Saone and Rhone rivers. I can’t stop thinking about the cobblestones in Vieux Lyon, and walking on it in 3-inch heels.  The tingling aroma of autumn, with a hint of coffee, while lingering past a café, is just a new sensation all together. Walking along the Saone River in the morning with the fresh farmer’s market, you could just smell the mixture of olives and cheese. The fresh smell of baguettes while walking past every boulangerie is to die for.  ARGH. I must stop thinking about this.

I have a week left to enjoy Shenyang. Let’s make the most of this.