clogged qi, tropical storms and updates on all things soooze

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When I went to the Chinese doctor for my thyroid earlier this year, he talked about qi (“chee”). In my mind, flow and qi are the same thing. I need a plumber. I am clogged.

I don’t know if it’s the weather or being sad to be back after such a great trip home, but I am one grumpy expat. I know I’m not alone because I see some really hostile expat faces all over town. In fact, yesterday, when I was in a taxi heading home from being assessed on my Chinese abilities (more on that later) I saw a police officer tell a foreign guy to step back—the guy was in the street looking for a taxi—and the guy said F*CK YOU! Which was both out of line and stupid considering the cop likely didn’t speak English. Or, perhaps that was why the foreigner felt free to rant.

Or maybe it is the end of summer blues and has nothing to do with being in a foreign country. I don’t know. Things that I have been previously accepting and tolerant of are driving me nuts. I’m abnormally annoyed at my ayi for various reasons too petty to list. I just have the major bad mood grumps and I need to shake them. I feel like everyone is staring at me again. I got used to this and now it’s bugging me all over again. Though I do have my smile it out tactic.

The weather is bad. It’s beyond humid. I have to walk slower when I walk outside. The air is thick and hot and I feel like I’m not getting the right level of oxygen. And then every afternoon/evening at the same time (about 4pm) it rains like crazy. Huge, torrential rains like you see on TV when they are reporting on a monsoon or a hurricane. It’s wild. That actually is a high point of the day if we are already back indoors. The first day it happened I was waiting at the bus stop and that was less awesome. When we are inside, it’s pretty fun to watch. I walked an hour to meet Mark for lunch the other day and I arrived dripping with sweat. Not the best plan I’ve ever executed but it was good exercise.

I know I can get back to the good place again. The place where I just accept the differences and accept how fascinating I am to most people I see on the streets here. Find new adventures and meet more people and get the most out of this time. I know that a smile goes a long way to make me feel less freakish and I know that if I smile first, often I will get a smile back.

I am going back to language school. I had a big gap in my studying time and the fact that I placed into Beginner level 2 is sort of shameful but still fine. New school, different texts and materials and I think better. Time will tell.

I have also joined Weight Watchers in Shanghai. This is a really important thing for me. I have been really blue about my current weight—some extra pounds are certainly from too many meals out or too much eating in general, but some are from the non-functioning metabolism my broken thyroid has caused. I am on a higher dose of the thyroid drugs and I feel much better. I had huge (pun intended) success with WW before I had Nathan. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet…blah blah. I expect to have similar success this round, but I am putting it out here for all to see so that I will feel even more motivated to get this done. “Fit before 40” is my mantra. I turn 40 on Feb 20th! That’s exactly six months from today, the day of my first Shanghai WW meeting.

Not to go off on too big a tangent but I think this WW thing is fascinating. Especially when doing it in a foreign land. They use the American program but there is a special survival guide for eating out in China with a bilingual book and every Chinese dish you can imagine with point values (the method for tracking food using WW’s system). There are also some groovy new online tools which include an iTouch app I am eager to try out.

I am also working on my TEFL certification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). I should have done it sooner, but it's still a worthwhile activity and I will hopefully put it to use while in China.

Mark is busy. Works all day and most nights. He does the second shift from home so at least he can usually join us for dinner. I’m cooking all our meals now—part of my new plan. The family is enjoying this and so am I. Emily is my assistant in the kitchen and has learned to slice tomatoes and cucumbers with a REAL knife. It’s very exciting. She is a master salad and salad dressing maker. She has been entrusted with the Slaven-Carlson special balsamic vin dressing recipe. The best part, both kids eat the salad!
The kids have survived the first week back at school. They seem to be adjusting well and making new friends as well as enjoying their friends from last year.

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Comments

[Susan]

i never understood chi
Hi Suzanne! First time back to your blog in awhile. Awesome that you are keeping it up! Bummed to have missed you during your trip back to Chicago and sorry to hear that you are feeling like it's hard to adjust on your return to Shanghai. Hope your spirits lift back up soon!

[Linda]

Yeah
Hey Soooze, so great to have your blog back in my life. You're right...it's the weather AND being back after three weeks of family and friends AND all those annoying things you got un-used to AND doing the Beginner 2 when you've had all those successes in communicating. I'm so THERE. Take a deep breath and do Suzanne in Shanghai Part II.

[anonymous]

WW
I lost over 45 lbs with WW and LOVE it. I actually worked for WW while we were back in the US for 9 months due to a family medical emergency. I plan on working for WW when we return to Portland Summer 2012. Small world.