"Today rest"

(A recent picture of my team and I)

A few days ago I was buying fruit at the usual vendor outside the front gate. I am able to understand a lot more lately of what people are saying. The difficult part is coming up with an adequate response. The woman smiled expectantly at me, and declared "Jintian xiuxi!" (Word for word , this translates into "today rest.") Was this a greeting? Was this a command? Later I asked one of my friends what I was supposed to say. She said that it was indeed just a friendly greeting and I didn't really need to say anything in reply.

So I'm feeling more at home, and I can navigate the culture quite a bit better than when we first arrived last fall. I'm able to read a lot more Chinese characters, and can understand a lot more when people are speaking. Sometimes the Nanchang dialect is frustrating, though. I've been learning "standard" Mandarin, and by golly, why can't they speak that on the streets? It would make life easier. :)

And while I'm feeling more at home here, it's obvious that many people in this city can't believe that I actually live here. I'm getting a lot better at ignoring the extremely obvious stares, gaping mouths, or the constant shouts of "HELLLOOOOO!!" or "WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!" But, every once and a while, I realize that I can't every truly be at home, just because I'm not Chinese.

Yesterday, I was happily walking along a street by campus when a man, who looked like he was from the countryside, stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me coming about a mile away. This guy's jaw literally dropped to the gravelly ground, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He didn't make the slightest movement after that. He was frozen to the spot, and he didn't move until I was inside the gate.

I wanted to laugh, considering what he was probably thinking. He was probably visiting a relative in this neighborhood, and then he spotted the first foreigner in his life--a girl who had white skin and blue eyes and big feet. And she was much taller than all the other people on the street. What a sight! He had heard that foreigners were very strange, and here was proof! And it looked like she actually lived here and knew what she was doing! What a story to tell the wife and village when he got home!

In other news, there's still not a whole lot happening. We were supposed to go visit a random, nearby mountain this weekend, but it's been canceled for unknown reasons. I'm just studying Chinese and hanging out, while trying not to think too much about going home!!

Happenings of Late

(Eating with some people from fellowship at "Le Bistro"--probably the quietest and cleanest place in Nanchang)

(Joelle, Shannon, and I hanging out under Jodi's mosquito net. You can't escape from all the mosquitoes!!)

Countdown: 16 days until Beijing; 21 days until America; 23 days until Kansas!

After many months I have finally counted the days until I'm on the way to seeing my family and friends again on the other side of the world. Every once and a while throughout the day, I realize that I'm homesick. I didn't allow myself to be homesick any other time in the past many months, because that would have made things more difficult. But now perhaps it's okay, although I have to still be focused on what's happening here.

However, there's not a whole lot happening. There's just continual rain and heat and bugs--plenty of bugs. I just hang out with my special student most days. Yesterday we had another study together and I was able to give her some money from our fellowship in the city to help her get home to Xinjiang, which is a three day train trip. She can only afford the standing ticket, which means she must stand for three days straight (This is pretty common, but painful way to travel in China). So this money will at least help her get a seat or even a bed for some of the way.

She was pretty overwhelmed by the gift and started crying. I reminded her that family members help each other out when they're in need. She's a sister we wanted to help.

Anyway, most days we either try to cook some food in our apartments, or we eat at the tiny restaurants surrounding the school. Most meals are about 7 kuai ($1). Lately we've eaten a couple of ritzier meals for about 40 kuai ($6). We try to live like the locals, but the past couple of days we've gone to some really nice restaurants that have just about given me culture shock.

On Sunday after fellowship, we had a farewell lunch at a swanky place called "Le Bistro," which is the only Western restaurant in a city of 5 million people. Only rich Chinese go there. The menu was small according to American standards, but it seemed like there were endless choices. We all sat and drooled and deliberated for a long time. I finally ended up with a Caesar salad and piece of chocolate cake. Is it okay to cry about food? I hadn't eaten a salad in a restaurant, or tasted a real chocolate cake in almost 10 months. I about fainted, it was so good.

Then for dinner on Monday night, our team took one of the teachers from Japan to eat at a nice Japanese restaurant. I ate Japanese fried rice and miso soup. My teammates got sushi or other kinds of Japanese food. It was crazy being in a place that actually had air conditioning, and not having to sit on a little peg stool to eat!

Okay, that's all I know for now. I know I need to keep moving and thinking about right here and right now, although it's hard not to get excited about next month!