This year, defining a “travel moment” vs. defining a “life in China moment” is going to get tricky. Where do you draw the line between being an expat and a traveler?
For the sake of my sanity and my always-exciting life in China, I’m going to skip most of the day-to-day annoyances that would otherwise bother me regarding work and life, and stick to the main events.
Best: Chinese New Year in Beijing
We started off the New Year (or the Chinese one at that) in Beijing, and it was a fantastic trip. Despite the cold, which was extraordinary, we got to have Beijing nearly all to ourselves for the short trip. So many people travel to their hometowns during the Chinese New Year and foreigners vacate the country that the streets were sparse and tourist destinations were very underpopulated. And because of the lack of cars and the shut-down factories, the skies were clear of pollution nearly every day. The city was also adorned with red lanterns, giving it a very authentic feel.
The highlight had to be standing on the roof of our hostel in the center of the Hutongs, spinning around and around to take in the sight of hundreds of fireworks going off around the city all over the place. As someone with quite a fireworks background, I felt as though I had really come full circle.
Chinese New Year is a fantastic time to visit Beijing if you can brave the cold, and I would definitely do it again.
Worst: Being Sick in Xi’an
There really seems to be a theme with my Best and World Travel Moments posts, right? Illness. And don’t worry, this isn’t nearly the last illness-related event in this post. I live in China, I’ve had loads of illnesses.
But basically, we only had four days in Xi’an and I had a nasty cold for all of them. I was miserable, and I brought Karl right down with me. Sorry Karl.
Best: Having a Break in Japan
Don’t get me wrong, I love living in China, but sometimes it’s nice to wander around somewhere fresh, where babies don’t shit in the streets and people aren’t constantly yelling. Japan was that wonderful place.
We only had a few days to spend exploring Tokyo and Kyoto, but everything was pleasant, beautiful, and easy. Even though we were quite rushed in our itinerary, I still feel like it was a needed breath of fresh air.
However, it was an extremely expensive country to visit and I don’t think I’ll be back until I have a *real* big girl job.
Worst: Bike Theft
One new hobby I’m proud to have picked up in China is biking. I’ve always enjoyed it as an activity, but for the first time I began using it as my primary mode of transportation. I started with the sharing-economy yellow OFO bikes and graduated up to buying my own used bike.
Which was promptly stolen less than two weeks later in front of my workplace.
So I bought another one, which was stolen several weeks later from my apartment.
The first one was a beautiful, shiny pink bike called the Forever. The second one was the Phoenix. And now? Now I have the Pigeon, or the Flying Pigeon as my friend Jenna dubbed it when it used to be hers.
Best: Seoul Dog Cafe
Overall, visiting South Korea was an incredible trip, but by far my favorite event was visiting the Bau House Dog Cafe. There were literally over forty dogs just roaming around playing together and playing with visitors, and it was only about an $8 entrance fee that included a beverage. Score!
We spent probably two hours bonding with the puppies and filling the empty space in my heart that previously housed my puppies at home. I was in serious need of some puppy love, and I would absolutely recommend going to a dog cafe if you ever get the chance.
Worst: Parents Being Sick
My parents announced to me in May that they would be visiting in October, which would be around the year’s anniversary from when I left for China. We all waited for months for the trip to come around, and we were so happy to see each other when the finally got here. I was going to show them where I work and all the things I love about Shanghai.
And then my dad literally got salmonella poisoning. He wasn’t able to leave the hotel for a few days, so I feel bad that he missed out on what would have been the best part of their trip (they went with a tour that shipped them around to shopping stops and gave them some very strange information). I got to spend a lot of time with my mom, but it would have been really great if both my parents could have explored with me since they had come halfway across the world to see me and Karl.
Best: Learning Chinese
Suffice it to say that I am absolutely nowhere near fluent, and my vocabulary and grammar is quite terrible, but I have come so far with my Chinese skills that I’m really impressed with myself. I’ve been in China for over a year and I’ve been taking Chinese classes consistently since about March, so I would hope that I would be at least at the level I’m at by now, but there are so many day-to-day wins with learning Chinese that it makes it so exciting to keep studying.
I can now: communicate with taxi drivers, food delivery drivers, and neighbors. I can go to a pharmacy and get exactly what I need, and I can go to the hospital and generally understand what their are kind of saying. I can communicate very well with my students even though I shouldn’t (English please is Rule #1), and I know enough to be able to ask questions from my Chinese coworkers who are all really good sports about it.
It feels good, and I can’t wait to see where I am at this time next year.
Worst: November
I started off November by falling down a small flight of stairs at a KTV, in a dress, on Giraffe prom night. I hurt my knee and foot and couldn’t walk for two days.
Then, I got the flu. My ears were popped for about a week.
And then, just as I recovered from both of those things, I got another damn kidney stone.
Probably the highlight of my Best and Worst Travel Moments of 2015 was the kidney stone, which was the most painful things I have ever experienced. That kidney stone was 6mm. This second one was on 4mm, but it took just under the same amount of time to pass and left me in excruciating pain. I had to miss almost a week of classes and basically just had to deal with it.
So yeah, November sucked.
Also Worst: Donald Trump is President of America
Sometimes that thought just enters my mind and I shudder. WTF.
What 2018 Brings:
While hopefully 2018 will involve more money-saving than money-spending, I’m excited for a few trips.
Karl and I will be heading home for about a month in mid-February to mid-March, during which time we will do a little US road trip to Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana to get some fresh air, open road, and see some friends and family around the country.
Next fall, we are also hopefully planning a big Trans-Mongolian railway trip! Or at least Mongolia. This is a country high up on my list because I just love wide open spaces and nomadic culture, so I would love to make this a reality. The Russia bit is just a hopeful added bonus.
We would also like to do a quick trip to Taiwan at some point since we have so many lovely Taiwanese friends now at work, and we will also try to do some shorter day trips around our general China area in the warmer months. I’m excited!
