Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

Back in America

I've been at home in Oregon for about two weeks now. And it's nice. Got to see the family, eat authentic Mexican food, hear hip-hop on the radio, play with the dog, a lot of little things I couldn't really do in China.

But I still haven't totally adjusted yet. The jetlag still lingers. Each night I sleep for only about 4 hours. Then I wake up and take a long nap right at about noon. It's caused me to have weird dreams; a week ago I died in a post-apocalyptic grudge match.

I'm also still used to speaking Chinese. Whenever I meet someone or pickup the phone, my mind instantly prepares myself to speak Mandarin. Then I realize I'm in America. No need to mentally try and translate words like "driver's license" or "contact lenses" into Chinese. I can just speak in English. Makes talking a little boring.

Xi'an, however, isn't too far. Through QQ, a popular Chinese instant messaging service, I can still connect with my students. "We all miss the times when you were teaching our class," one student wrote. "Me too," I replied.

I study Chinese everyday to make sure I don't forget it. And as I sit at home, jobless, I also try to reflect on life. Nothing deep or really thoughtful comes. A week ago I wondered what my students would think if they had visited America with me. They'd probably be shocked at how fat everyone is, I earnestly concluded. (Even I could stand to lose some pounds).

I plan to head to Beijing in early September, where I can begin blogging once again. I'm looking forward to it.