Onward and eastward

I'm sorry that I haven't written anything for a while. We all had a marvelous time in Florida, especially seeing baby Andrea graduate from college. I'm so proud of her!

Yesterday I drove 11 hours and 581 miles by myself to Virginia. To keep me sane, I made some observations about the states I drove through:

Indiana:
-Worst roads
-Highest gas prices
-Saddest to leave this state

Ohio:
-Best roads
-Prettiest, bluest sky
-Longest part of the drive

West Virginia:
-Most interesting, dilapidated houses
-Most run down
-Most gorgeous wildflowers

Pennsylvania:
-Shortest section of the trip
-Hilliest

Maryland:
-Most scenic
-Narrowest one-lane highways

Virginia (or at least northern Virginia):
-Most suburban
-Most developed

Anyway, I safely arrived to my new home for the entire summer. I'm staying with some of my aunt's friends. They are very kind and have a gigantic house; I'm so thankful for their hospitality. I'm pretty sure my bedroom is bigger than my entire Bloomington apartment.

Now I'm looking forward to starting my new job; I need something to occupy my mind and time. Thanks as always for your thoughts!

Baby Andrea the new graduate.

Hanging out with Andrea and her sweet Asian friends.

Upward and onward

One year ago my mom and Andrea were visiting me in China--helping me teach, going on crazy adventures, hanging out with dear friends and students, and eating good food. Now we're all about to be reunited again, this time for baby Andrea's college graduation! It's hard to believe that she is 22 and has just finished college.

I officially finished up all my exams and papers this past Thursday. I was working constantly the past couple of weeks on all that work, pretty much from the early morning to late night. Thanks so much for your thoughts! Everything is completed, and my grades were a lot better than I expected; so I certainly get to keep my scholarship next year, which is a huge blessing. So the first year of grad school is done...

I managed to push back my start date for my internship by one week, which means I'll get to attend Andrea's graduation. That has given me a bit more breathing room, so I officially get two weeks of a break for the entire summer, instead of just one. :)

I flew to the hubbub of Orlando yesterday to stay with Andrea in Daytona Beach, which is the total opposite of Mayberry. First I had to take an hour and a half long shuttle van ride from Orlando to Daytona Beach with several other passengers from all over the world--one was a British woman who practices hypnosis for a living. Another was a Mexican woman and her very elderly mother, who was singing in Spanish while the driver played Rolling Stones on the radio. Everyone was very friendly, but interesting.

I was sitting in the third row back, but the driver was looking at me nearly the whole time. I tried to pretend I was sleeping. He and the other passengers were asking me questions about everything, and the driver decided I could be dropped off first in Daytona Beach, because I was cute. Then he turned down the radio and declared that I "resembled Meg Ryan." I didn't understand him the first time, so he had to repeat it. I looked at him like he was crazy, because the only thing Meg Ryan and I have in common is that we both happen to be female. By the time I was dropped off at Andrea's school, I practically leaped out, because I was so ready to get out of there.

So this part of Florida is filled with so many interesting people of all different shapes, sizes, colors, and socio-economic statuses. It is hot, hazy, colorful, and loud. People wear and say crazy things, which doesn't happen so much when I stay in quaint little Midwestern towns.

The rest our family will be coming in a couple days... Hooray!

Welcome to May

It's May. The weather is chilly and rainy for days on end. The lowest gas prices here are at $4.29, and everything seems to have gotten a lot more expensive. I'm also in the midst of finals and massive paper-writing. In three days I have to pack up my entire apartment. And in just a couple of weeks I start an internship far away that will last the whole summer.

So this month doesn't sound so awesome right now, but I still have a lot to be thankful for and am just trying to finish the race well. He knows the plans He has for me, and they aren't to harm me, although I'm filled more with dread than excitement right now.

In the spare moments I have to think about or do things other than school, I've been reflecting on this past year. It's such a change from China, which I still miss a lot, but I think I would still make the same decision to start grad school here in Bloomington again. I feel like I've finally found a place that seems like home, especially as I've uprooted my life and friendships several times in the past--going to two different high schools, moving to Virginia for 4 years, moving to China for 2 years, moving to Indiana, and now migrating briefly to the D.C. area for the summer.

I have had to say goodbye in the past couple of days to two very close friends who are graduating and now moving on from Bloomington. I already miss them a lot and wonder if I'll ever stay in one spot longer than a few months or years and be able to develop long-lasting friendships and connections.

That's all I have to say for now--I ought to get back to studying. Thanks as always for your thoughts and encouraging words. Have a blessed May!

Monsoon season

In Nanchang, I remember that each spring it would rain for a month straight every single day. Now that it has been raining and storming for most of April here, I'm recalling those days and wondering what we did to make the days survivable.

What I remember about the Nanchang rainy season:

-My bright yellow rain boots paired with my bright green rain jacket.
-My teaching lesson papers being totally limp and soggy.
-Dozens of brightly colored umbrellas were open to be dried in the back of the classroom every day.
-Since there wasn't an operable or effective drainage system in the streets, you could practically ford a river to get to class.

The excessive rain here in Indiana doesn't quite compare, but it's close. You know it's rained a lot when:

-All the gum you have is a squishy mess from the humidity.
-Your hair always looks wet.
-A familiar sound is wet vacs pumping out water from the ground level apartments of our complex.
-Everyone looks pale and tired.
-You have even less motivation to write papers, finish projects, and prepare for finals.

And yesterday was Easter! It was cold and rainy, but still a wonderful day, especially as we reflected on His resurrection! I got to bring my two Chinese friends with me to church. Overall, it was a blessed day and now it's back to the grind of somehow finishing this semester!

Rainy days: Nanchang, 2010.

I miss riding on humid Chinese buses with Jodi!

All the colorful umbrellas on display in the perpetually rainy weather: Nanchang, 2010.

Muddy roads: Nanchang, 2010.

Wrapping up

What has been happening in my life? How about what hasn't been happening? I feel like you could cut my stress with a very nice knife. Life is crazy and I can't form cohesive thoughts anymore, so here are a few key highlights of the past week or so:

Homeward Bound walk for homelessness: the main project at work has wrapped up, and so now things have settled down. We ended up raising around $57,000!

InterVarsity: I'm still involved in InterVarsity's Graduate/Faculty Ministry on campus. I volunteered to be the so-called "service and outreach coordinator" for next year, and still love being a part of that ministry that helped grow my faith in college.

School, school, school: I'm constantly working on projects and papers. Tonight I had my one-hour law presentation. Yes, one hour. And I still have to start a 30 page policy paper for that class. That's only one class, so multiply the workload by four.

Summer plans: I'm honestly a bit anxious about this summer--where I'll live, how I'll manage to move all my stuff out of my apartment the day after finals, and when I'll ever see my family or friends again. I know everything will work out like it always does, but it's difficult to see the forest through the trees right now.

Spring: The campus is gorgeous, even though it storms a lot. I ought to take some pictures of all the beautiful flowers and trees around here that almost take my breath away.

Being a grownup: It's hard work being an adult and doing grownupy things. I'm not complaining, but sometimes I wish I didn't always have to be so responsible. :)

All that being said, life has been busy, but blessed. I just hope I can look up from my notes and papers once and a while to be a blessing to others! Happy mid-April!

Some of the 900 walkers at Homeward Bound.

It was a gorgeous day for the walk.

Walking with a purpose

It's easy to feel purposeless, especially when you have tons of schoolwork, work, and social activities that consume every waking moment. It leaves Laura the introvert with little or no time for reflection. I feel like I must be doing something purposeful and productive at all times, and am constantly analyzing this. Are my classes purposeful? Am I purposeful with relationships? Am I purposeful in my work with the city?

One of the huge tasks I've worked on this past year is the annual Homeward Bound 5K walk, which raises money for 11 benefiting nonprofit agencies. The funds raised are used to help alleviate poverty and homelessness in Bloomington. Up until now, I didn't feel that excited about it. I couldn't really picture the event itself, and when I wrote articles or talked to the media, I felt like I could only speak vaguely about it.

But... I got to experience the walk today. All the planning and meetings and sweat paid off. From the wee hours of this morning to late afternoon, I was helping with the walk and I loved it! We gathered at Third Street park in the beautiful, cozy downtown. The park is surrounded by the police station, a women's domestic violence shelter, and my church, which meets in the Boys' and Girls' Club. The grass was green, there were gorgeous tulips blooming everywhere, and the weather was perfect. At least 800 walkers showed up, in addition to about 150 volunteers. All the entertainers, the mayor and other VIPs, and our Homeward Bound Committee did a great job. Several of my friends also came and walked.

I had to work at registration and run around coordinating things, but I still had time to talk to old people and young people and hippy people and conservative people. There was such a diverse array of folks who showed up. A lot of the media came, and we ended up raising at least $50,000. So, in the end, the Homeward Bound walk seemed purposeful. For an afternoon the community came together to raise awareness and money for food kitchens and shelters helping the homeless population in Bloomington.

Lastly, I have less than a month of school somehow! Soon my first year of graduate school will (hopefully) be successfully completed, I will embark on an internship in D.C., and will turn 25! I'm just praying to the Father that He will continue to put purpose in the steps I take. Maybe I'll end up back in China, which is my dream, but for now I have to keep walking purposefully here.

Sadly, I didn't bring my camera to the walk today. But I have a picture from Friday when I invited my two sweet Chinese classmates for dinner at my abode.

Spring musings

I've been back in America for over 9 months--almost 10 now. I realize that I can adapt quickly to different cultures and situations, which can be a blessing, but also not very cool. I feel like I'm becoming almost the same person as before I left for China.

I really am still struck by how busy, busy, busy and hurried, hurried, hurried all Americans seem to be. And I'm becoming one of them. I have to have nearly every second of my 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. day planned--people, school, work... How do I remain focused on God and relationships, when there are so many other things I also have to do? I'm seriously working on school stuff or at work on average 12 hours a day.

So this past weekend was spent focused on people. I really didn't accomplish a whole lot of school stuff and told my work that, no, I couldn't table at the farmer's market for 6 hours on Saturday morning. But I really enjoyed eating/cooking lots of meals with people, hiking for hours on end, and having great conversations.

I even discovered a grave about five steps from my apartment door--with the date of death being 1833. Wow--Kansas wasn't even around then. That wasn't really a highlight of my weekend, but a strange discovery I wanted to share. :) I found it when I was walking to the laundry room and was wearing my new glasses that help me see quite well. It's covered by a lot of overgrown bushes and grass...

So it's a whirlwind life and I'll leave you with some pictures, of course:

Hiking in beautiful Brown County State Park.

With Malsi, Jess, and Jenn.

They're pretty entertaining.