This post comes to you live from the 6:27am Yinchuan train to Beijing!
While waiting for my train to begin its 11-hour journey, I thought I would write a quick (and wildly overdue) post summarizing my recent travels, and give a preview of those on which I am about to embark.
On Christmas Day evening, I made my way to the Yinchuan airport (all by myself, no less!), caught a plane to Beijing, spent the night at a friend's, and left again very early the next morning with another friend, Thomas, for the main Beijing Railway Station. We had a delicious McDonald's breakfast before boarding our 6am train. Seven hours later, we found ourselves in China's winter wonderland, Harbin, home of the annual International Snow and Ice Festival.
Over the next few days, Thomas and I saw a whole buncha things. We walked up and down Harbin's beautiful Walking Street, Zhongyang Street, lines with shops and restaurants; went skiing in China's largest ski resort in Yabuli, two and a half hours away; visited the Siberian Tiger Reserve and saw dozens of gorgeous tigers...tear apart a couple lambs; and we walked around Zhaolin Park, marveling at the ornate and impossibly detailed ice sculptures that lined the sidewalks. All the while we'd occasionally stumble upon some old Russian church or building or restaurant, which was pretty neat to see. Harbin is so far northeast, it is has close proximity to and great influence from Russia. All I all, Harbin was one of the coolest places I've ever visited, both literally and figuratively, and I'll never forget it.
On December 30 I returned to Yinchuan after two separate train rides (from Harbin and from Beijing, respectively), and the next very early morning I set out for the airport once again, this time headed for warm and beachy Nha Trang, Vietnam. This particular trip was a somewhat annual thing for my boss's family and my co-workers. The training school at which I teach is so small, the staff is very close and is more like another family to each other than anything else. Many of my co-workers are around my age, but their families live in another province entirely. So, my boss and his wife, despite not being much older than their staff, have become parental figures to many of my co-workers. And what do mom and dad do when their kids have done a really good job at school? Take them to Vietnam, of course! They were kind enough to treat us to plane tickets, although we had to cover the rest of the expenses. It was way more than I would have spent traveling on my own, but I figured it would be a good bonding experience.
Ever wanting to make things more exciting, I definitely forgot my Vietnam visa the morning of our flight out to Nha Trang. Dohhh. That was pretty annoying, but it was a good opportunity for me to remember how blessed I am with resources to make my life easier and people who are so eager to help me. Anyway.
There were exponentially more Russian people in Nha Trang than there were in Harbin, which I thought was a little strange. Nha Trang is a huge vacation spot for Russians, apparently! New Years night we went to our resort's NYE Gala. It was by far one of the weirdest and most unintentionally hilarious parties I've ever attended. Over the next week, I worked on my "tan" at the beautiful, white sandy beach; ate my weight in fresh and flavorful Nha Trang lobster, crab, and snails; drank authentic cà phê sữa đá, iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk; explored the bustling city center and caught a colorful glimpse of local Nha Trang life; and found my way to a few local religious sites, including an old Catholic Church and two aged and impressive Buddhist temples, all of which had incredible views of the city once I walked to their top levels.
On my last full day in Nha Trang, I was hit with some food poisoning that kept me pretty stationary for the second half of the day. Before it got too bad, though, I took a pleasant, long solo walk along the Cai River. At one point, as I was admiring the colors of the boats on the water, I passed an opening in the railing and saw some stairs leading down to the river. A man was peeing in it. I quickly averted my eyes once I realized what he was doing, but not before he turned his head, noticed me, and said, "Oh, I'm sorry!" I smiled and shrugged it off, keeping my eyes on my path and never breaking my step. Then, somehow deciding all hope was not lost to have a conversation, he added, "Where are you from?" His voice trailed as I kept walking. He had been peeing into the river for the entire duration of this interaction. I thought it was all very amusing as I chuckled and continued on my way.
On January 6 (2017!), we all flew back to Yinchuan. I was hit with a rather large wave of culture shock upon my return; I think I was surrounded by English speakers and Western-er life for just long enough that I grew too used to it after growing so used to the rhythm and differences of life in the very traditional, old school city of Yinchuan. It took a few weeks of teaching and busy bodying, but I eventually readjusted to Chinese life..... Only to leave again today! This morning marks the beginning of my Spring Festival travels. Today is leg 1 of 7: headed to Beijing. After that I'm off to Hong Kong via Shenzhen; Singapore; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and finally back to Yinchuan. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, but I'm so excited for the adventures I'm about to have!
It's at times like this when I catch myself thinking, "Megan...who ARE you?!" Ha. I just can't believe how blessed I am to be where I am and to have the opportunities that I have. This life definitely has its hard days (srsly so hard sometimes, you guys), but if it allows me to explore new places and meet interesting people and serve the Big Guy Upstairs all at once? Then yeah, it's worth it. It's all worth it.
Apologies for the lack of pictures in this post, I'm not really sure how well that would work over my phone browser. There will for sure be pictures next time, though! Stay tuned. Until then, Happy Chinese New Year, and see you soon. ^_^
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Monday, January 9, 2017
Culture Shock is like... (文化震惊)
I was thinking about it, and I have decided that culture shock is *kind of like growing your hair out.
First, you make the move: you get your hair cut. It looks GREAT. You don't have a change for the future...you just want to make a change. People compliment you on the big move, ask how you feel. Everyone is excited for you. YOU are excited for you. You milk this feeling for a while, not even noticing how you can't put your hair in a bun anymore or style it as easily as you always have.
Before too long, though, the hair gets just a liiiiiiittle longer...and becomes a liiiiiiittle less easy to style. Less natural. It still looks good, feels good -- but YOU know that it's different. You figure eh, it looks good, I think. You're still milking that flashy new 'do, that exciting move. The only difference is that now you have to try a little harder to make things work.
Then...you reach the awkward length. You can't go a day without noticing the difference between how hard you have to work on your hair now versus how easy and exciting things were with the new 'do weeks or (for those slow hair growers) months ago. Every stinkin' day you have to try so hard to do anything with your hair -- just to make something work! Some days you don't even try. Other days you try and you get so frustrated in the process. It's. Just. Hard. Nothing seems to work. Your friends know you're having a hard time, so they try to help, give you tips, lend you some hair spray. You appreciate their help, even though you know this is your battle. They don't know your hair like you know your hair.
Thankfully, you soon reach this miraculous period where your hair looks...okay! You can put it in a small bun with a few bobby pins, or you can wear it half back and it looks pretty nice...why, you can even let it dry by itself and it won't look half bad. You don't have to try as hard because you know what to do now. You know what adjustments you can make when things aren't working. With this renewed confidence you have a renewed, positive attitude. With every day you get more and more used to your ever lengthening hair -- heck, you almost look forward to the challenge of working with more hair.
Over time, your hair ebbs and flows between awkward lengths and okay lengths. Some days you feel great and everything looks normal, feels natural. Other days you have to try a little harder, or even really hard. The hard days are never easy, but with each one you learn a bit more and you think more critically about how to make things work -- where to make adjustments, how to deal with the flyaways, and maybe when to make the next big change. No matter what, though, even on the most impossible, most painfully frustrating, difficult days when nothing seems to work, you can have confidence, and you can have hope; for with each passing moment, big or small, your hair is growing, and so are you.
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*I said "kind of." I.e., not exactly. Obviously there are some exceptions and plotholes to this theory -- "what if I'm balding?" "what if I have alopecia?" "what if I'm going for a Sinead O'Connor look?" -- but, as someone who got 10 inches cut immediately before moving to a foreign country four months ago, I am fairly amazed at the how the sequences of each "phenomenon" line up.
First, you make the move: you get your hair cut. It looks GREAT. You don't have a change for the future...you just want to make a change. People compliment you on the big move, ask how you feel. Everyone is excited for you. YOU are excited for you. You milk this feeling for a while, not even noticing how you can't put your hair in a bun anymore or style it as easily as you always have.
Before too long, though, the hair gets just a liiiiiiittle longer...and becomes a liiiiiiittle less easy to style. Less natural. It still looks good, feels good -- but YOU know that it's different. You figure eh, it looks good, I think. You're still milking that flashy new 'do, that exciting move. The only difference is that now you have to try a little harder to make things work.
Then...you reach the awkward length. You can't go a day without noticing the difference between how hard you have to work on your hair now versus how easy and exciting things were with the new 'do weeks or (for those slow hair growers) months ago. Every stinkin' day you have to try so hard to do anything with your hair -- just to make something work! Some days you don't even try. Other days you try and you get so frustrated in the process. It's. Just. Hard. Nothing seems to work. Your friends know you're having a hard time, so they try to help, give you tips, lend you some hair spray. You appreciate their help, even though you know this is your battle. They don't know your hair like you know your hair.
Thankfully, you soon reach this miraculous period where your hair looks...okay! You can put it in a small bun with a few bobby pins, or you can wear it half back and it looks pretty nice...why, you can even let it dry by itself and it won't look half bad. You don't have to try as hard because you know what to do now. You know what adjustments you can make when things aren't working. With this renewed confidence you have a renewed, positive attitude. With every day you get more and more used to your ever lengthening hair -- heck, you almost look forward to the challenge of working with more hair.
Over time, your hair ebbs and flows between awkward lengths and okay lengths. Some days you feel great and everything looks normal, feels natural. Other days you have to try a little harder, or even really hard. The hard days are never easy, but with each one you learn a bit more and you think more critically about how to make things work -- where to make adjustments, how to deal with the flyaways, and maybe when to make the next big change. No matter what, though, even on the most impossible, most painfully frustrating, difficult days when nothing seems to work, you can have confidence, and you can have hope; for with each passing moment, big or small, your hair is growing, and so are you.
---------
*I said "kind of." I.e., not exactly. Obviously there are some exceptions and plotholes to this theory -- "what if I'm balding?" "what if I have alopecia?" "what if I'm going for a Sinead O'Connor look?" -- but, as someone who got 10 inches cut immediately before moving to a foreign country four months ago, I am fairly amazed at the how the sequences of each "phenomenon" line up.
And, if you were wondering, I am growing my hair out.
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Mandarin Word of the Day: (head) hair
Chinese characters: 頭發 (頭 = head, chief, boss; 發 = to open up, to send out)
Pinyin pronunciation: tóufa
---------
Mandarin Word of the Day: (head) hair
Chinese characters: 頭發 (頭 = head, chief, boss; 發 = to open up, to send out)
Pinyin pronunciation: tóufa
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