Anger is not very becoming on anyone.

I swear. Somedays you can't get a break.

And today is one of those days.

My boss has contacted me asking me if I would agree to letting an incoming employee and her friend "take over your apartment from early Feburary. Then you and Jill move to another short-term two-bdrm apt for a month with no more paycheck deduction of 1000. Then from March you and Jill will go to Wuhan in turn. And either of you just need a one-bdrm apt to live."

I'm shocked. And so angry. This is a company that I have bent over backwards to help. I have gone above and beyond my contract on a regular basis and this is how I'm repaid. AND- if finding another similar apartment is so easy- STICK THE NEW GIRL in it. The reason I'm so upset is that housing like ours is NOT easy to come by. There are not a lot of beautiful apartments easily available in walking distance. Ugh. I'm so mad. I'm annoyed!

Even worse when I said that I wasn't happy about giving up my apartment so that I can "save the company" a few bucks and move 3 (!) times in the next four months his response was, "I don't understand why moving to a similar apartment is difficult for you."

In this moment- I just want to say give him the ol' F U and book a flight home. It is so hard when a hardworking employee is so completely undervalued. 

Today there is no love.

Lost & Found

Last week was filled with ups and downs. And lost and founds.

The first LOSS began early in the week. While I was watching rags out in the sink I decided to take off my Diamonque ring my mom had bought me for Christmas. It's a little flower design made of little marquis fake diamonds. I love it. I really truly do. I took it off and placed it on the counter- and then quickly lost my train of thought when it came to my ring. I dried the rags. Hung them to dry (Very quaint, right?) And then went on my way. Home. Only after leaving the building did I remember that I had taken my ring off. No worries- I had been there when they locked up. And I trust everybody in my office- so I knew I could just grab it the next day.

Cut to the next morning: there is NO RING on the sink. I was devastated and heart broken. I started questioning EVERYBODY in sight. Had they seen a small flower ring- somebody must of at least SEEN IT. Nope. Nobody. But- to show the kindness of my coworkers, my distress launched a full out search. We started searching the entire Romp n' Roll- from top to bottom. It was pretty hopeless. Feeling like I had seen my ring for the last time I went ahead and looked it up online. I checked the website and found where my Mom had bought it. I was reading along- and guess where it was made? You guessed it: CHINA! I was feeling better- maybe getting a replacement wouldn't be that hard after all! Then the cleaning lady (aka Big Sister) remembered during the morning scrub down she had heard a faint metal tinkling while cleaning the sink. She started searching high and low. And WEDGED underneath our clothes washer was my ring. I had never been so happy in my life.

Later on that week Jill and I had our Chinese tutoring. My glasses are for distance- so whenever I sit down for a lesson or dinner, I tuck them off to the side. We had a pleasant review of our Chinese text book. But after working a 10 hour day- I was pooped! I gathered all my things, payed my bill, and went on my way. Now this week was especially cold. I had on a sweater, my jacket, gloves, circle scarf, hat, and had bundled myself so that all but my eyes were covered. Jill and I went on our way home. Laughing and joking, half-way home, all of a sudden, I remembered that I DIDN'T remember putting my glasses on OR putting them back in the case. I looked at Jill and cursed and explained about my glasses predicament. She looked me dead in the eyes, shoved her bags at me and told me to meet her at the Q-mart. And then my track-running roommate sprinted back to the restaurant. I walked to the Q-mart and buried my face deeper in my scarf and sighed. That long sigh caused my glasses to fog up.

Yup- thats right. Not only had I convinced MYSELF that my glasses weren't on my face- Jill had believed it. Pretty neat trick, eh?

I'm including a picture of one of my favorite students, Puppy. Just for general cuteness reasons.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Here in China, they put tomatoes in fruit salads....

Add Your Own Caption

Anna and Jill look so happy because _____________________________________________.

Jet Lag & Bitter Cold

We have been welcomed back into Beijing with a particularly cold snap. Jill and I are now living in our Romp n' Roll sweatshirts which were graciously given to us by Michael and Babz (THANK YOU!) 

The wind is just howling non-stop. As soon as you step outside you realize which parts of you are painfully under-protected. Last night I had forgotten to zip up a sweatshirt to my neck and could feel the biting wind immediately finding my exposed skin. It makes me wonder how people survived before the days of heat and climate controlled technology. I would have died. Seriously. Take me back to Beijing, January 1892- and I would be dead. 

It's 16 degrees outside right now. I leave for work in 20 minutes...and if I'm lucky maybe the sun will have warmed the temperature up to 18. I hope the wind has died down- I can't hear it whipping around the buildings so that is a pretty good sign.

Jet leg is slowly releasing its grip on me. Friday, Jill and I left work around 3:30. We came home, paid our bills, and  by 4:30 we were both out. We both woke up around 7- and despite having almost no food in our house- decided we were not going to leave for dinner. By 10PM we were both out again- sanz supper. By 2AM I was awake again and stayed awake till 5:30AM. I manage to bide my time by reading ALOT and around 4AM gave into hunger and boiled some noodles which I ate with some olive oil and parmesan. 

Saturday, Jill taught 5 (!) classes and I taught 4. I took a desk nap- which I have included the picture that Jill took. It looks like a face planted on my desk mid-thought. Which is not that inaccurate.

Jill hurried off to the grocery store while I taught oral english. I grabbed subway on the way and we snuggled in by 9PM. I was out by 9:30. I've been using some medicine to help me fall asleep and I'm glad. 

But we are alive and well. Jill is down to 5 months and I just crossed into the 6 month countdown. More then half over. Crazy!

But love, love, love you all!

Working In A Coal Mine

After a few weeks rest- its back to work.

I arrived in BeiJing at 10:45 last night- an hour earlier then it was suppose to take! 

I had a minor crisis at DCA when my flight got delayed, then delayed again, then delayed AGAIN, then cancelled. Our plane was broken- something about a monitor. I could just feel the giant headache forming as I tried to scramble to think about how I would now make my connecting flight in Chicago. But luckily- I dashed to the desk, knocked a few people down- and demanded a flight. Actually I politely asked for a flight and our flight had been delayed so many times another flight set to leave for Chicago was sitting at the adjacent gate. To make life even better- they sat me next to NOBODY. So- I got to stretch out. And it was a brand new jet, very fancy schmancy inside.

I made it to Chicago: had a sub-par deep dish pizza, chatted with some newly returned disciples from Jerusalem, cried a little, and jumped on my jet. I watched 75% of Social Network, ate the first meal, and drifted off into dream land. I (incredibly!) slept for somewhere between 8-9 hours. That NEVER happens. I'm usually the person starring jealously at my neighbor as they snooze comfortably, and I try to psychically wake them up so I can go pee. I slept through one my meals even! But...we get three....so it really wasn't that much of a loss. 

We arrived an hour early and I made my way through baggage claim and customs. I had anxiously practiced 'wo jia zi suzhojie dieti pong bien' ( live near the suzhojie subway station) over and over again- ready to tell my cabby. Then I got out there and was utterly overwhelmed. This guy was directing people to cabs and he started speaking to me in Chinese. I had some how not anticipated being asked a question- and I didn't understand one word other then the 'ma' at the end which told me it was a question. I got choked up and felt so disheartened. All the frustration of living in a country where you don't speak the language hit me in that moment. I wanted to cry. I wanted to jump back on the plane and fly home. I didn't even notice when he asked me in simple English, 'where you go.' It took me a few moments of just starring at him- before I said my phrase. And it worked.  I repeated it to the cabbie and he drove me directly home.

It was a good reunion with Jieeeeeeeeerrrree! We caught up for about 2 hours and then finally we decided we may want to sleep. A little.

Our power went out this morning....because we haven't paid our bills.....so we need to get that fixed. But not before I got to blow dry my hair. Came to work- and sure enough I had a class at 10:30. An AE1 with 4 kids in it. It was fun- and luckily I've been doing RnR so long, I was a bit on autopilot. It's a bit of a blur.

One thing I HATE about jet-lag is that it messes with my short term memory. For example- today I reached in my laptop bag, pulled out my wallet, and then reached in my laptop bag for my wallet. I feel so hazy. I just ate one of my favorite lunches here- but it just didn't feel right. It didn't quench my hunger. It didn't sit right. But- so far so good. As long as I stay mostly occupied- I stay mostly conscious. 

But I'm here safe, counting the days till I return to America. Sometimes you don't know how much you have until you move 7,000 miles away and then visit it again.

Happy Trails...

I'm sitting here in Mechanicsville...and I'm struggling. I have not packed a bit. I am not in bed yet. And even though reality is slowly descending upon me....I feel overwhelmed with the prospect of once again leaving the country.

This trip home has been too much of a reminder of how life was a year ago. And how much I miss. I miss my friends. I miss the fan. I miss my family. I miss the food. I miss my boyfriend.

That (I hope) does not lead people to believe I am unhappy in China. But....in the words of another traveler: "There's no place like home."

But....tonight will slip into tomorrow. And tomorrow into Wednesday. And I will be back on a jet plane- bound for new adventures. I just. I want to savor tonight a little more.