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Published: September 6th 2013
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Holy cow how the months do fly!!
I hate to talk about the weather... but seriously! It has been the center of our worlds in Hangzhou for a month, because it has been insane. Shortly after my last post, we had a week-long stretch of over-100 weather coupled with 80% (I kid you not) humidity. That, my friends, is disgusting. Downright disgusting. There isn't another word for it. This week? We're in the 50s and raining. Suddenly winter is here, and our bodies don't know what to do with it. Most of us are quite ill, actually. I'm finally getting over my crud, but this weather has been weighing on all of our bodies quite heavily.
In other areas, though, August has been incredible!!! Annie, Taryn and I continue our shenanigans every week. This past week was a really good one for exploration - mostly because the weather cooperated!! We still continue to keep the music alive, and can almost always be found running around town singing our heads off, picking up strangers' instruments, popping into music stores, taking over Indian restaurants' pianos, and generally stringing along the soundtrack of our lives. We've recently decided, though, that we need
more activity in our lives. So, we're also discovering new sides of Hangzhou.
I'm still hitting the pool with some regular consistency, despite not seeing Felix hardly ever anymore. I'd like to be going more - so that will be my next task. In the meantime, though, Annie, Taryn and I have invested in softball bats and balls, badminton equipment, dart boards, and days at the driving range to keep busy. This is bringing out a whole new side to Hangzhou for all of us. There are all these hidden gems of gyms that we can play at, and we are having a blast working out where to go and how to get in there. Thank goodness for technology and the magic translators on our phones.
Work is unbearably busy sometimes... but weeks like this make me forget all of that. I have a chance these next two weeks to finally get caught up and get going for the next term. This is a huge positive for me because with more and more to do every week, I need the breather once in awhile. I'm trying to finish this at work today, in fact, and I'm actually feeling
a bit scatter brained. This is how it goes. People walk in, yell things in Chinese, laugh, leave, come back, need something, ask me to do it now, I say no, ask me to do it later, I say maybe... they yell more things in Chinese... and then I have 10 more minutes of silence. I look at the clock, realize I have 10 minutes until there's a meeting, and someone enters yelling things in Chinese. It's a vicious cycle. I like my morning schedule just because it means that for at least a few hours a day, I can actually sit in silence. I love the girls here, but MAN are they loud!!!!
Anyway, I'm posting 23 pictures for your viewing pleasure... It's been great hearing from those of you reaching out this summer!!! Sorry for my month-long silence, but all is definitely well in the world of Hangzhou and I'm happy to be part of it!
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gramps
non-member comment
enjoying your blog, but no sympathy from me about your heat! Will it ever stop being 100 degrees in SA? Loooking forward to your dad\\\'s visit next month. He wants me to watch the Broncos clobber the Cowboys! Love, Gamps