I have been so behind on my blog posts and e-mail its not even funny.
I’m loaded down heavily right now and struggling a bit with my classes but I should be able to pull through.

I am really behind on my e-mail, my e-mail is only synced up to April 26th, and its now the Second May Second, (I am currently living May 2, 2007 for the second time in two days.)

But as to what I have done.

It’s going to be brief. Just for the sake of my own mental state and the emotions it brings, and for the sake of time.

In Malaysia I went to Kuala Lumpur with An, Monica, and Lindsey. We just walked around; saw the sights, nothing to special. I wasn’t all that thrilled with Malaysia, but it was a MUCH needed break from the mental rigors and changes that shook my foundation that were brought about by India.

In Vietnam, I saw my parents; we did the Chu Chi Tunnels, the War Museum, and the Mekong Delta. We also did the School for the Deaf and Disabled Children’s Home. I think they got a small taste of what I’ve seen. While that was a very worthwhile trip, I wish we had a service project at one of the locations instead of just a visit.  I also showed them the way we traveled and how price tags mean nothing, meters are always broken, and if it’s steaming, it’s probably safe to eat and amazing.

In China, I took a calculated risk. I spent the first night in Hong Kong, in order to get a feel for the city, and then I went out on my own. The next morning I took the train to the airport, and flew to Beijing by myself. In Beijing I was completely solo, given I ran into a few SAS’ers here and there but never for more than 5 minutes. I had an amazing time; I saw the Forbidden City, the Ming Tombs, Tiananmen Square, and the Great Wall. I hiked twelve stations (according to my guide its 1km between stations, and nowhere near a straight walk. It was extremely steep, windy and pretty beat up in some places, but once I got away from the crowd, put away the camera, and got to hiking it was amazing. That night I had dinner and went to the bar with my tour guide, talked about topics that are “off limits” for the Chinese, for the tour guide’s sake cause I never know who is reading this, I’m going to leave it as we discussed the Chinese Governmental oppression and suppression of the Chinese people. Then I hiked around the city, and just had an amazing time by myself in a country where almost no one speaks English taxi’s wont stop for the foreigner that’s trying to hail them, you have to put your arms out make whooshing noises and act like your flying, in order to explain you want to go to the airport. (Yes, I did this, while a good 50 people stared at me)

It was amazing, then we got to Qingdao, I went out with some friends that had a horrible experience in china, Jayme and Carley. We went to New York Bar, which had amazing band that was all classic and modern American music sung by a Chinese band that was surprisingly good.

Then Japan
In Japan I traveled right from the get go with Dan, we went to a baseball game. It was mostly empty, but the Japanese that were there are nuts, they love their baseball. From there, we missed our first train to Tokyo, so we went to Kyoto. Spent one day in Kyoto and then took an afternoon train to Tokyo, Spent the first night in the very shady Shinjuku District. Then the next day Dan headed back to Osaka/Kobe and I went to the Akahbara (SP?) district and spent the night there. Over all met a ton of locals, and had a blast in Japan.  (Ask for stories regarding the dive bar on the last night, and the sketchy Nigerians in Shinjuku.)

Overall, while Japan, and Malaysia and Vietnam were an amazing experience, China is just slightly ahead of India in my book. I want to do the LSSU summer study abroad program to Beijing.

I loved China. India taught me how wrong I was about the world, and what its really like, and what people are capable of even in the most dire of circumstances.
China taught me how wrong I was about myself. I’ve learned that I can be self reliant, I don’t need support (while it is appreciated and welcome) to be on my own and be comfortable even when I know I don’t fit in and stand out. (The fact that Chinese children and Chinese tourists to Beijing wanted their picture taken with me.) That I have come to know more somewhat where I am going and now how where I have been shapes me.

I came on SAS looking for something like China, along the way, I discovered India, but eventually I had the experience I had been searching for, and I found that in China.