The best moment of my birthday so far, with our CPA (who is the nicest, grandfatherly-type man I know):

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Thursday night relaxation: 

I never thought I would have something in common with a dog, but Boo: Word. I know EXACTLY what you mean: 

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Cute. (And true. Not much fazes a return PCV. I already knew how to dance though, thanks Chilean mom!)

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A few photos I don't think I've shared before:

I must have a touch of ADD because I found the cacophony of traffic and people and smells in my neighborhood in China to be mostly energizing and soothing to my spirit. Sometimes exhausting, but mostly exhilirating.

The cross street on my block (Xinsheng Lu, YangJiaPing District). This road lead from V's apt. to mine. I crossed it to get to the subway station and store and bank and shops.  I look back on these photos with such fondness and sentimentality:

The other side of the street. That Happy Day KTV is where we took T.'s parents when they were in town: 

These rooftop pictures were taken from Andrew's roof next door, and I love that you can see the pollution shimmering in the night air, so China:

Another beer garden night-- we ran into these random foreigners, I think they were a school group from France? Beer garden night culture is definitely lacking in my life right now:

The last nighttime street meal R. and I ate together, on the street in front of my school. I miss this food, and style of eating, so much: 

A video I don't think I've posted before, made while walking down my street to the end of my block. I walked this path countless times over 2 years. I had to be so careful where I pointed the camera, because across the street was a firehouse, which is a military installation in China, complete with armed guards. And you can get in serious deportation-type trouble for taking pictures of things you shouldn't. So, I had to angle the camera very carefully; hence the sometimes limited view and lack of other photos of my street: 

018.AVI Watch on Posterous

Thanks for taking this walk down memory lane with me!  I've accepted that my life is in America, but part of my heart will always be in China. 

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1. This past week I downloaded a theme for my Android and didn't realize that the new theme shut off my sound notifications. I woke up the next morning to missed text messages and emails. I felt like an idiot, but realized how attuned I've become to those little beeps and signals and I'm not even a 'glued to my phone' person! But generally at least every few hours I'll hear it and catch up on what I missed. (The time I hear every single incoming message is in my car, when I can't respond to them.) 

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I've been flaky* about choosing a hotel for my NYC trip: that one had bed bugs, this one got bad reviews (oops, checked after booking), that one isn't a location I want after all. My friend S. urged me to stay all nights with her in Brooklyn, which I wouldn't mind doing at all because I love S. and her husband, but part of the fun for me of going on vacation is staying in a hotel. I love hotels! 

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1. Chinese friends told me Americans have a milky smell, very identifiable as, I guess, 'American Milk Smell.' 

2. In Thailand, I was asked if Americans eat milk and bread for every meal. Hmmm. In some form or other, that's not far off. 

3. In China, most of the Western foods we got very excited about were dairy-based: cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, mac and cheese shipped to us, plates of cheese at the Hilton and Marriott hotels, ice cream and pizza and Mexican food with real cheese. We didn't seem to give too much of a phablooey about pasta, salad or hamburger helper. 

4. In China, for a fellow volunteer's birthday, I gave her a small block of cheese. This is the only time I've given cheddar as a gift. (She loved it.)

5. I decided to cut down on dairy because I have milk intolerance and Lactaid isn't cheap. Thing is, I've noticed pretty much every meal involves dairy, and you can pry my Fage plain Greek yogurt from my cold, dead hands. So I'll keep buying Lactaid. 

6. My mom used to make us liverwurst and muenster cheese sandwiches as kids and WE ATE IT.  (She got hooked on liverwurst when she and my dad lived in Germany. ) 

7. However, I draw the line at actually drinking milk, because, yuck. Dry cereal rules. 

8. It's a toss up whether I'd like to be slathered in Baskin & Robbins chocolate and peanut butter ice cream or Dreyer's peppermint ice cream but I'll take either one.

9. I really want to eat that mac and cheese in the picture for dinner. 

Two things I forgot to mention about Salt Lake City:

1. Things like yogurt and fruit cups with soft lids pop and spurt when you open them, due to the higher air pressure here. I've learned to open things pointing AWAY from me. Sometimes chip bags inflate like pillows and also pop when you open them. So much excitement here! (I've heard the altitude also affects baking but I don't do that, so I have no idea.)

2. Mountain snow accumulation is captured in reservoirs as it melts and turned into drinking water. So, tap water is very tasty, like fresh-melted snow. (However this year it is refusing to snow, so not sure what we'll be drinking next year.)

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(There was a some kind of glitch in the matrix and the original post disappeared but I would like to remember in five years that this was a great game so I'm reposting.)

Boston is my least favorite major U. S. city and NYC is my favorite city ever so: so happy they won!! Great game! Wish I could be there for the parade.

(And pretty sure Bradshaw's ass-first touchdown is my new favorite since Doug Flutie.)

Congrats New York!

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1. I think my apartment is too big for one person*, so

2. I feel guilty heating it all night when I sleep in a 4x7 space, so

3. I turn off the heat at night and use a small heater next to my bed instead, and

4. I was almost asleep but forgot to turn it on and too tired to get up, but

5. I saw the next morning that my pillow had moved from my bed to the floor, completely covering the heater. 

Weird attempt in my sleep to turn the heater on by throwing a pillow at it? Weird coincidence the one night I forget to turn it on, this happens? Weird that I feel guilty about heat? (I blame China for that last one.) This I know for sure: NICE TRY, PILLOW. I DO HAVE WORKING SMOKE ALARMS FYI. 

Official re-enactment:

*I'm downgrading to a smaller apartment when my lease is up. 

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In China, my shoulder-length hair stopped noticeably growing. I trimmed it twice in 2+ years and came home with hair the same length as when I left. But in the last 18 months, it's grown about 10 inches, including several trims. I have no idea why my hair grows in America but not in China.

T., the first time he saw me in America with noticeably longer hair, was shocked at how fast it had grown. "Wow," he said, "it's amazing what proper nutrition can do for a person!" In China, we didn't eat fortified foods. Do the fortified foods we have in America really make that much of a difference? Is it the cleaner air here? Clean water? I have no idea. I do know I took for granted how much fortified food is available in America. 

I still miss something about China every day, but evidently my hair doesn't.

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A friend shared this list with me of things happy people do to cultivate happiness in their lives. 

1. Express gratitude.
2. Cultivate optimism.
3. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison.
4, Practice acts of kindness.
5. Nurture social relationships.
6. Develop strategies for coping. 
7. Learn to forgive.
8. Increase flow experiences. 
9. Savor life’s joys. 
10. Commit to your goals. 
11. Practice spirituality. 
12. Take care of your body.

I really liked it, so I wanted to share it. I also like this quotation:

"Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness. When one desires to alleviate the suffering of others and to promote their well-being, then generosity - in action, word, and thought - is this desire put into practice. It is important to recognize the "generosity" here refers not just to giving in a material sense, but to generosity of the heart." (Dalai Lama)

#1, #5, #9 and #12 are my focus goals for the next few weeks. 

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Last time I flew JetBlue's redeye to NYC, I was confused why the lady in the middle seat of my row had already boarded? OH. A BABY. There were about 50 hot guys on that flight and I was stuck next to a baby. It was not a good experience. I don't hate babies*, and I don't blame babies for not sleeping on airplanes, but until they get that surcharge flight in place that guarantees no children under 13 (please, airlines, can this happen?), there's a chance I'll end up next to a baby on an overnight flight.  

Unless... the next time you buy a redeye ticket, you ask an agent if you can find out if there's a baby sitting next to you? And the very helpful agent says a good way to ensure you don't sit next a baby is to get a seat in an exit row? So you do that. FOREVER you will do that. (How did I never think of this?) I don't mind babies or small children on regular flights, but overnight flights? No offense to parents, but I will do what I can to sleep on the plane. As I said, I don't blame babies for not being ideal seat partners. (If I could, I'd ask JetBlue to sit me next to a hot, single guy. I'm kinda shallow that way.) 

Babies can't help it. But I can. 

*I don't mind babies I am related to or whom close friends are related to and would sit next to them overnight on airplanes. 

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Every morning I heard radio advertisements telling me I need thicker, shinier hair to attract men and expensive laser hair removal to remove other disgusting body hair; if I don't get the laser treatments, I will be stressed remembering to shave* and if I forget, there goes that man I attracted with my shiny, healthier hair! l see news headlines congratulating someone's stunning weight loss or plastic surgery and photoshopped advertisements all day long. I see pop-up ads telling me women (i.e. me) make many mistakes that drive men away, but there are secrets (for sale) for keeping a man in my life no matter what. Because obviously a man won't stay unless you trick him into it. (Degrading to both men and women.) 

It's too bad we are bombarded with these messages all day long telling us we're not good enough. For a long time, I listened and read them without questioning what impact they had on me (even without buying their products). But what's great is I absolutely have control over how much importance I give them. I choose "None." 

When I was in China, a male acquaintance told me if I lost 20 lbs I would be SO HOT. Those messages are harder to hear, because it comes from someone you know. (When I lose weight I lose my curves. So I guess he thinks a different body type is hotter.) 

*I wish. How easy of a life would it be if THIS is what causes you stress??

Photo link

______________________

This past weekend I was in a restaurant bathroom and the little girl in the stall next to me, around 3 years old, was super proud of the fact she pooped in the toilet. Remember the days when all you had to do was poop to feel good about yourself? I don't. But that is awesome. (Then, when she was at the sink the song "Sexy and I Know It" came on the overhead speakers and she told her mom, "Ohhhh...this is a GOOD song." Little girl cracked me up.)

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A student informs me that if you are born in the Year of the Dragon, it is tradition in China for you to wear red underwear EVERY DAY of the year. If you are another year, it's okay, you can wear whatever you want to. And in Mexico, you wear red underwear on New Years Day for love in the new year. The U.S. is really missing out on the power of the red underwear. What do we get?? Let's make something up and go with it. Can't hurt. 

Addendum: my student said you wear red underwear all year long when it is your year, not just dragons. Now I know why so much red underwear was for sale around New Year! 

I've been trying to think of a way to capitalize on my huge veins, but nothing is coming to mind. I'd also like to capitalize on the fact I can wiggle my eyeballs. If you have any ideas, let me know. I'll even wear red underwear while doing it, if that helps. 

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My favorite message was from my cute friend Huang Xi who said, "You know the movie we saw 2012 showed many bad things, but it is the Year of the Dragon, so I think we will be okay." I love her sincere belief that nothing very bad can happen in the Year of the Dragon. I miss her. 

So, to all my friends wherever you live: it's the Year of the Dragon, y'all! Let's enjoy it! 

I'll be eating dumplings today to celebrate and buying some lanterns for my patio for Lantern Festival in two weeks. (Lantern Festival is the official end of the holiday. Gotta love Chinese holidays; they make the one day American holidays seem so stingy.) 

*GO SMS with the their keyboard, which has a Simplified Mandarin keyboard option that converts pinyin to hanzi. Apple has this built-in to their software-- yeah, Apple is better this way! I assume Android phones in Asia do, too. Android for North America-- get it together! 

**Smart Silencer. You set the time, range and days you want the phone silent and it does it automically. I use it for overnight and for set meetings at work. 

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Thanks, anonymous lady, for owning that booty with pride.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089243/Slumdogs-New-York-The-remarkable-images-capturing-immigrant-families-unrecognisable-19th-century-New-York.html

(Sorry for the long ugly link but I'm doing this on my phone.)

More pictures of NYC from around the turn of the century.

These pictures are fascinating to me because we know how NYC has evolved, but also because I wonder where Chongqing will be in 100 years. Chongqing is also a city of immigrants (mostly rural people* from the countryside) and many of them live in conditions similar to those depicted in these photos.

The evolution of architecture and living environments is worth studying, I think. There are other places that experienced similar evolutions, but NYC has done a great job documenting and archiving their history and making it accessible to the public.

*Those who have a rural hukou. So it's not just a social construction, it is their legal status within China. 

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Texts I sent in 2008, prior to my move to China, found on my Samsung pebble phone, presented without context: 

"Just got out 4 lunch. Can i stop by and get my lube?"

 "Just you! Thanks for asking though!"

Some of these, I remember the context. Most, I don't. So this is what's great about technology: it's possible to record things you have no intention of remembering. And relive moments you never imagined happening. 

happyendingsdoll.wmv Watch on Posterous

My Samsung phone now: 

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I'm going to NYC in March, where I do a lot of walking and subway stair-climbing. My travel bag is this great wheeled backpack from Eagle Creek. The 22-inch size fits in airplane overheard compartments. I pack my electronics, reading material and snacks in the smaller front bag and keep it with me at my seat. It's pretty much the perfect city/walking travel bag. I highly recommend it.

Here's what a wheeled backpack looks like in action: 

And glad to be sitting down after a long day of walking: 

I'm looking forward to seeing my Peace Corps friends in the area again! I wish T. could come with me, but he has school. And R., who has to work. It would so much more fun with them. (And how much would I enjoy exploring NYC with T., who has been to over 50 countries but never NYC? So much!) Sadly, Murray Hill Inn, where I always stay, shut down last May, so I've had to find a new crash pad in the city. I've been staying there since 2005 or so, it was my secret awesome place; I have this picture I took in my room there, showing off my emergency Hot Bottom pj pants:

So long, Murray Hill Inn (and the Hot Bottom pjs; I have no idea where those went); it was nice while it lasted. I'll be staying a few nights with my close friend S. in the area, with an overnight trip to CT to visit some Peace Corps friends. And of course, visiting museums, falafel stands and my favorite bridge, the George Washington Bridge. I'm also going to Tribeca clothing shop (my college nickname was Tribeca, so I kinda have to like this store) in Washington Heights. It's very shiny!  I'll take photos of my favorite outfits, so look forward to that! 

(I have noticed lately I use too many exclamation points. Need to break myself of that habit. But I am just outwardly happy a lot! It reminds me of one of my favorite quotations: "I'm not high-strung, I'm just terribly, terribly alert!" Indeed.) 

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