Thanks Paul -

---

I suppose I’m not the first international traveler/teacher to describe this sentiment, but I’m the first person to write about it on the Kelly and Elizabeth blog. The feeling I’m talking about is the extreme waves of complete loneliness followed by extreme waves of complete elation.

The feeling of loneliness I suppose is partially because of the language barrier. I’ve been working pretty hard at learning the language… writing down words I want to remember, trying to learn the names of dishes, and attempting to take conversation further than “good morning” and “hello”. But the fact of the matter is that it is just plain hard. The language has 5,000 written characters and my knowledge of 40 or so helps me to find the bathroom and a good deal for a bottle of beer - but not much else. Like I said earlier, every single word has four different tones, with each having a completely different meaning. For the untrained ear, it all sounds the same, but for those learned in the dialect, it makes all the difference in the world.

The other portion of loneliness is perhaps just being in a new strange country. And just when I think I’m used to something, or I see something familiar, something is a tiny bit different; not better or worse, but different enough to not be exactly what I want…

Anyhow, as I was feeling extra lonely while puttering through the brand new, completely different, Wal-Mart, I strolled into the bathroom. I was the only guy in there, which made me feel even a bit more lonely than before. I stood in front of a urinal and stared straight ahead at some advertisement which I could not read, and at that moment I heard, piped in from the PA system overhead, Paul Simon, singing “I’m going to Graceland.” I chuckled and looked down and saw that I was urinating into an American Standard brand urinal; my first in China. The irony was complete and I could only smile and feel not so lonely - because no matter where you are, there is always something that will be at least a little familiar. Thanks Paul --

---