Bamboo Forest

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The great thing about living in a place like China - so different from my own home - is that it is easy to find oneself in a constant state of discovery and rediscovery. In my 7 months in China, I can honestly say that I've gone through 7 phases of existence. I've been awestruck, overwhelmed, inspired, agitated, ambitious, secluded and reawakened. This week, I've made a conscious decision to rediscover this place called Hangzhou. I have many new people in my little world over here now, and there are many pockets of the city that I haven't yet seen... and many that I haven't yet seen through the eyes of my new people. This process of rediscovery has reawakened a sense of adventure and appreciation for this whole China experience.

It's very easy, no matter where you go, to walk down the street, your eyes set forward, and your pace steady. In our daily lives, we have tasks and duties, we fulfill those and start again. There are days where I could really be anywhere doing what I'm doing and it wouldn't make a difference. I've found myself very disappointed in this approach. See, there are still days when I finally look up, look around and say, "whoa... I'm in CHINA!" I've become so comfortable in my daily activities that I actually manage to forget that sometimes. Yet, what an amazing thing it is to have those moments. This week has been full of them.

We have a delightful new FT at work, Taryn - seen in these pictures. She is from South Africa and has a heck of a story as far as why she's here. I have a lot of respect for her, and we've become fast friends. Taryn asked me the other day what I thought to be the best thing about life. I thought about this for a short second, then told her: Stories. That's what traveling has taught me. Everywhere you go, people have stories to share. Some of them are frighteningly familiar, and some of them are so out of this world you wonder how you and this person ever came to be in the same place. All of us have our stories, and these make us who we are. In so doing, these stories make our interactions what they are. When reading fiction, many of us pull out the lessons and morals and "what I would do better" brain boosters. This year, I've found that each of those is much more striking when you're hearing it first hand. And the best part is, as you are listening to a story, you are creating a new one and all of these swirl and tumble around each other to make this odd world that we live in. It's really pretty cool.

At any rate, Taryn and I went for a bit of a walk-about yesterday. We meant to go to the lake, but ended up spending 2 hours at "China Mobile" sorting out her phone issues, skipped lunch, grabbed the wrong bus, and ended up at the bamboo forest, pictured here. There are two things that I have learned about Hangzhou Summers: They are hot and they are buggy!!!! My only regret about yesterday's trek was the lack of bug spray. I feel as though I have chicken pox, the bites are so bad!!! Regardless, the great part about a short adventure like the one we had yesterday is that it all took place well within the city limits. We got off of a hugely popular business-route on the public bus system, took 10 steps and were swallowed by the forest. It's so quiet, natural and heavy in there that it's almost mystical. Strange bird calls are being passed back and forth, the leaves are rustling - even though there's no wind, the echos of a stream bubbling from... somewhere are barely perceptible. And you must stay on your toes because at any given moment, I assure you, Dragon Warrior is about to come crashing through the trees!! Mm... wrong bamboo forest... but Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon WAS filmed an hour from here in a very similar forest...

Anyway, I'm determined to put the China back into my China experience. Fortunately, I have many companions who are ready to do so with me. I'm a growing girl in a growing world, and I'm not about to go stagnant just yet 😊

There'll be more pictures coming - Taryn has promised that we'll be swapping pics tomorrow.

In other more day-to-day news, I am 5 days from moving out of my apartment. It's been quite the adventure in and of itself figuring out where I'm going to stay for the 2 week overlap that is going to happen before my new room is completely available. However, things seem have sorted themselves out and I am rearin' to go! I'm anxious, too, to pass along photos of the new place. I'm a huge fan of this apartment and of my roommates, so this is going to be a good time!

At work, things are on tumble-dry-low as we move into the new phase of management. Our new LLD has wasted absolutely no time piling new responsibilities onto me, and has basically told me "screw it" with worrying too much about the staff relations that I wrote about last time. His goal is simply to put me in charge, rather than apologize for it before anything even happens. He's already gained immense amounts of respect from the staff -- we are all extremely excited about the level of competency that he brings, as well as his drive and energy for what he does. So, I'm no longer worried. He and I work exceptionally well together, and share a sick passion for Excel and Outlook... So, over at Wulin, we have a new Sales Director, a new Language Learning Director, and a new Senior Foreign Trainer, all of whom mean business. This is either going down in a burning pit of fiery destruction and despair, or it's going to be a positive game changer, putting us back on the map (Wulin used to be the #1 Center in the Region... bah-lieve it). One way or the other, I think it's going to be one hell of a show. Hold on to your hats, folks.

Anyway, I'll update again as things settle in. Wild times!

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Comments

[gramps]

initials
Jessi, Enjoyed the beautiful pictures and your commentary. What is an FGt and a LLD? Love, Gramps

[JAWhite1587]

Acronyms
Disney is almost as bad as the military when it comes to acronyms. I forget, sometimes, that I'm even using a shortened version!!! Common ones that I use are: FT - Foreign Trainer/Teacher LP - Learning Partner SFT - Senior Foreign Trainer (my new position) LLD - Language Learning Director (he's the new kid in town these days!) RLLD - Regional Language Learning Director CM - Center Manager