so, after all the trials and tribulations that included, but were not limited to, dealing with american airlines to reroute my flight from singapore to home through china, and the process of both saying "the Consulate of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China" five times fast as well as applying for/picking up my Chinese visa, i've made it. i'm in china, and its nothing short of unbelievable to have made it here. me and my family had entertained the idea before we had bought my ticket four months ago, but we decided it would be too much trouble so we didnt do it. then, some 4 weeks ago, since my aunt moved to her new job/house in the Shanghai city area, mom said that it would be "appropriate" for me to come here for a week on my way home, so we put the wheels in motion for getting me here. and now i'm here!
theres quite a bit for me to be happy about being here. first of all, i'm in china! i really didnt think that i'd end up coming here for at least another five years or so, after medical school perhaps on a short vacation or something, so thats nice. secondly, i'm with my family which i havent seen in some years now, almost 6, so thats always nice. they're amazing people, and i certainly do miss seeing them quite a bit, esp when we talk on the phone every once in a while. and the two kids, now 14 and 8, i hadnt seen in 6 years, and as you can imagine, they've grown up quite a bit since we last met. it was a pleasant surprise to see them both, and we're having a great time here together. last but not least, the weather is a HUGE break from the stupid humid hot singapore weather. for the first time since i left, i felt cold while standing outside in jeans and a tshirt, and it was an incredible feeling. also, for the first time in 4 months, i've had to use lotion to keep my hands from drying up since the atmosphere didnt keep my skin moisturized simply by being outside. i'd say of all these, the weather is a close second to being with the family, its that amazing. its the spring weather that i know that i've been looking forward to for SO long. thank god i'm here :D
its not really all that different from any other big city in the world that i've been too, in asia or otherwise..it is the financial center of the entire country, so its a pretty important city in the grand scheme of things, but no bigger or more crowded than new york city at the worst. except that everything looks like chinese to me, but im sure you can understand how that situation might arise. been here for about two days now, since friday afternoon, it being sunday afternoon now, and i tell you, i've had a wonderful time. i'm here with my mom's sister and the fam, so i've got excellent accomodations and plenty of love from the family to come along with it; they're taking good care of me. have had a couple wonderful days and nights so far. friday, we went out for dinner at an AMAZING middle eastern restaurant with some of the best kebabs that i've ever had, as well as a few belly dancers that werent *too bad* either :) after dinner, me and my uncle, since we were in the nightlife district for dinner anyway, decided to do a little club hopping for a few hours, which turned out to me majorr fun, despite the fact i was with my uncle. he's so chill, we just had a few drinks here and there, he met some his work buddies and i met a couple girls from the US and britain, had a good time for the night, which was helped by some good music at one of the joints we spent a large part of the night at. got home around 330AM and slept like a baby in the nice cool, dry house, cuddled up in my blanket for the first time in mooonths.
the next day, saturday, left the house around noon and roamed around the city and the surrounding cities getting some errands done then heading towards their old hometown for some dinner, drinks, and evening entertainment, which included an absolutely fantabulous light and sound fountain show, accompanied by some surprise fireworks as part of the finale. today has basically just begun..we'll be going out to do a little shopping and taking a little look around the city, and then letting the rest of the evening play out as it may. definitely looking forward to spending the rest of the week here with these guys, they're tons of fun and its just awesome to be with family that i havent seen in so long....my sister is soooo jealous haha :) will be writing soon!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
ummm packing?!
soooo today is monday, which is basically over as far as i'm concerned. i'm leaving on thursday, which gives me, at midnight tonight, a total of 72 more hours in the country. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! just like that, the semester ended on the 18th of april, and here i stand, the 5th of may with my departure looming ahead of me, threatening to bring me back to the grim reality that is my summer "vacation". this, however, is not before my week-long visit to my aunt and the fam living in china, which is kinda cool if you ask me. im crazy excited to visit them, as i havent seen these guys in about 5 and a half years....and im gonna be in china!! never thought i'd end up there either, so it should be really fun. plus, they just moved from the outskirts of Shanghai to the metro area, so it'll be a lot easier to actually go to the city area and do things there.
given all this impending excitement and fun, the mood has changed from anticipating the inevitable goodbyes and flowing emotion to the 5 stages of grief (wiki). at this point, i'd say most people have moved on to either the depression mode or, if they're particularly skilled in handling emotions, then the final stage of acceptance. many of my friends have already left, with some leaving today and the rest establishing a consistent flow of exchange students leaving the country in the remaining days. its so weird, thinking you may or may not see any of these people again, the people that you've seen so often for four months, hung out with, had good times with. just, up and leaving, its an...interesting experience, to say the least. and its funny, its not like i have a super strong desire to stay, im not mad that i'm leaving singapore, im upset that the experience as a whole is ending...and even then, not all at once. piece by piece, with people slowly filtering out of the country, like sand in an hourglass. i think this would be easier to deal with if everyone left at once, that way we'd all receive a little shock, but wouldnt have to go through the agonizing experience that is everything you want to stay in your life being dismembered piece by piece, person by person. either way, perhaps i'll be happier when im actually home with some solid emotional footing, i sure hope so anyway.
in other news, last weekend i finally got around to attending the Formula Drift event in singapore, which actually turned out to be really cool. however, a little emotional rollercoaster getting there. got to the expo center, was told they were out of tickets, but decided to take the $5 shuttle bus to the actual venue to see if i could scalp some somewhere. got there, talked to a guy, said no more tickets. talked to an event staff member, said the same. however, with my luck, two guys overheard me and said they had one extra ticket! what luck! bought it off them, nearly hugged these strangers because i was SO happy that i actually was able to go, since i had been looking forward to this for the last two weeks. got in, and then stumbled upon Anna, who i had no idea would be there. basically, the day turned around from one HUGE disappointment to a rather good day with some good company..included a couple pictures below for your viewing pleasure.
Me and Anna, apparently looking "too much like a couple" in her words haha
Me and the banner
Probably the best picture that i got of actual drifting action. SIck.
Me humping a Maserati. I bet you've never done this.
the next few days will be wrapping up some odds and ends..little laundry action, few last souvenirs that i've got to get, packing up by wednesday night, and a little studying here and there so i dont end up bombing my exam on thursday (hopefully). this may well be my last post from singapore, we'll see if that ends up being true or not. until next time!
given all this impending excitement and fun, the mood has changed from anticipating the inevitable goodbyes and flowing emotion to the 5 stages of grief (wiki). at this point, i'd say most people have moved on to either the depression mode or, if they're particularly skilled in handling emotions, then the final stage of acceptance. many of my friends have already left, with some leaving today and the rest establishing a consistent flow of exchange students leaving the country in the remaining days. its so weird, thinking you may or may not see any of these people again, the people that you've seen so often for four months, hung out with, had good times with. just, up and leaving, its an...interesting experience, to say the least. and its funny, its not like i have a super strong desire to stay, im not mad that i'm leaving singapore, im upset that the experience as a whole is ending...and even then, not all at once. piece by piece, with people slowly filtering out of the country, like sand in an hourglass. i think this would be easier to deal with if everyone left at once, that way we'd all receive a little shock, but wouldnt have to go through the agonizing experience that is everything you want to stay in your life being dismembered piece by piece, person by person. either way, perhaps i'll be happier when im actually home with some solid emotional footing, i sure hope so anyway.
in other news, last weekend i finally got around to attending the Formula Drift event in singapore, which actually turned out to be really cool. however, a little emotional rollercoaster getting there. got to the expo center, was told they were out of tickets, but decided to take the $5 shuttle bus to the actual venue to see if i could scalp some somewhere. got there, talked to a guy, said no more tickets. talked to an event staff member, said the same. however, with my luck, two guys overheard me and said they had one extra ticket! what luck! bought it off them, nearly hugged these strangers because i was SO happy that i actually was able to go, since i had been looking forward to this for the last two weeks. got in, and then stumbled upon Anna, who i had no idea would be there. basically, the day turned around from one HUGE disappointment to a rather good day with some good company..included a couple pictures below for your viewing pleasure.
Me and Anna, apparently looking "too much like a couple" in her words haha
Me and the banner
Probably the best picture that i got of actual drifting action. SIck.
Me humping a Maserati. I bet you've never done this.the next few days will be wrapping up some odds and ends..little laundry action, few last souvenirs that i've got to get, packing up by wednesday night, and a little studying here and there so i dont end up bombing my exam on thursday (hopefully). this may well be my last post from singapore, we'll see if that ends up being true or not. until next time!
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