Wow how these weeks do fly... Last week, I moved out of my apartment. My 6 months there created some pretty awesome memories, but the circumstances being what they were made it time to go - and I am at peace with that. Since then, I have been staying with Taryn in her new apartment, and will continue to do so until August 1 when I can finally settle into my own place. I'm a bit sad that Taryn didn't arrive in Hangzhou one month sooner. I am excited to be moving in with Juliet and Mitch, but I think that Taryn and I have made awesome roommates. She stayed at my place for just over a week as she transitioned to this apartment, and is now returning that favor to me. Both times, we've gotten ... read more

June has been a busy, busy month in general! Certainly, things have really picked up at work now that I'm receiving more and more responsibility... but socially, things have been exploding as well. Recently, I've felt that I had kind of run out of things to report on in my blog-sphere. But, a friend pointed out that it's not that I'm running out of things to say, it's just that things don't seem so new to me anymore. So, I do have things to talk about, even if it doesn't seem all that interesting to me :) And maybe it's not interesting to you, either. But, here's a bit of a peek into some genuine ex-pat life in China. This month, a lot of my foreign friends have had significant events taking place. We've had birthdays, ... read more

There is an element of Chinese culture that I have been anxious to try, and that is Chinese traditional medicine. The trouble with wanting to try something like this is that it means that one is HOPING to have a medical problem that requires attention… A number of years ago, I pretty well swore off pain medication for most ailments. I’m one of those oogly-boogly types that understands pain (and other discomforts for that matter) to be your body’s way of communicating with you. By popping pain pills, I feel that I am simply muting the public service announcement and doing nothing about the information on the screen. Well, not using pain medication, on the other hand, means that one really needs some way to handle pain and discomfort because otherwise one is just… uncomfortable and ... read more

This has been one of the fastest, craziest weeks that I have had to date! My mom arrived last week on Tuesday. Sara and I were able to fetch her without too many issues, though we did arrive at the meeting place after my mom had already gone through customs, etc. Sadly, this meant that I did not have the opportunity to jump, shout and enthusiastically wave my pre-decorated Disney balloon and watch Sara turn an ungodly shade of red as promised. Huge bummer. But, a trip in to and back out of Hangzhou without a hitch is cause for celebration enough. Mom has managed to proceed with her visit to China with ZERO jet-lag. I am not sure what voodoo she pulled off in order to make this happen, but she has been an absolute ... read more

It's growing on me. Literally. So there you go :) Otherwise... It's been another busy couple of days! Nothing entirely NEW to report, per se, but I have been keeping myself occupied with a lot of new things. I have a small handful of friends that are not Disney-related, so it's been nice to actually take some time to completely remove myself from work once in awhile. I've had some nice walks around the city and on some of the hills, but admittedly have spent no time at all near the actual lake in several weeks. At some point, I really do need to venture down there again. In a couple of weeks, my mom will be here. So, I've also been busy making all of those plans come together. We have a very, very busy ... read more