Back in the US

From China's east coast to my home east coast - I'm back from my trip. My sleep cycle isn't entirely restored (some adjustment has happened, but I'm still not feeling sleepy until around 4 or 5am, and then sleeping until about 11:30am each morning), I'm not used to seeing so many waiguoren and not hearing Chinese everywhere, and my stomach is still getting used to DC cuisine. What is DC cuisine? It's a menagerie of everything, a smorgasbord of international diets. In only the last week, I have had Thai, Mexican, Americanized Chinese, Indian, as well as pizza, sandwiches, oatmeal, and shredded mini wheats. I just realized how much I actually love sandwiches! Sounds strange, but when you don't have them for a month, you really miss 'em!

Switching back entirely to English is interesting. The environment makes it a smooth transition, because of course I have grown up speaking only English in this area, around the same people, so it's simply picking up where I left off; I can simply think and speak, instead of think, translate, and speak. I'm concerned for my spoken Chinese though -- my difficulty with learning Chinese has been largely due to my rare actual usage of it. As I saw in Tianjin, what you learn in a classroom and from a textbook isn't necessarily what you use in day-to-day conversation. I'll have to really try to stay in tune with Chinese news, podcasts, tv/movies, and other media to at least keep my listening comprehension in practice.

Things I miss about China:
the prices,
our Nankai teachers (language, tai chi, etc.), and our new friend Zhao!,
being outside every day (you can get away with staying inside virtually all day here),
the crowds of people,
the ridiculous extravagance of the KTV industry,
"gangster clubs,"
E-mart,
taxi rides (hair-raising but fun and convenient, esp when the drivers are chatty!)

Things I do NOT miss about China:
the lack of toilet paper in public facilities,
the standards of "sanitation" in public facilities,
spitting,
risking my life in traffic on foot or inside a bus/taxi,
the option of only Chinese or "American" food,
the lack of diversity within the population,
mosquitoes, (although I tried doing tai chi in the backyard the other day, and my ankles were definitely bitten by other equally-enthusiastic insects)
the laundry facilities (I love dryers like I love sandwiches)

It's great to see friends and family again, and now that I've been back, my trip to China feels like it was months ago. The purpose of the trip was to expose us to as much of the different parts of China as possible, which it did. From here on, it's up to me to individually start to pursue the rest of it.

Thanks for reading, those of you who've kept up with my blogs! Stay tuned...who knows, maybe there will be a RobynInChina2009.com!!

再见!!