Home, home on the range...

Yes folks, I'm back in the good ol' USA. Let's flash back to Friday June 29th when I was scheduled to leave China and return....

My flight was scheduled for 6:30pm. I planned it so I could lug my two gigantic suitcases (it's a miracle they weren't over-weight) down 5 flights of stairs, take a 30min taxi ride to the bus station, take the 2-3.5 hour bus ride to the Beijing airport (it depends on traffic and how sturdy the bus is), and arrive at the airport 2 hours early.

I took this long, tiring journey only to arrive at the airport and find out my flight was canceled. Supposedly the airline knew it would be canceled 36 hours earlier but neglected to inform the passengers. HOW CONVENIENT!

So, I took the looong journey back to Tianjin and I had to wait 3 days before they could get me on another flight.

Long story short, I took the long tedious journey back to the Beijing airport yet again on June 2nd, got bumped up to business class, had the most comfortable flight ever, and boom I was back in the US.

It's good to be back and see family and friends again. But I really do miss Tianjin! I've been looking for jobs back there so I can head back. I think I just got accepted to one and I'll update you on that shortly!!

Down to the wire

My last few days have been hectic. There are so many things to do:
Close my bank account
exchange money
cancel my cell phone plan
buy a luggage tag
pack and repack until everything fits and is under the weigt limit
buy stuff I need that is cheaper here than in the states: webcam, glasses...
ahhhh too much to do!

Last night my friends and I went out to Alibaba's, the local expat hangout, for one last night out. Plus, it's the bar's tradition to let everyone write on the walls so I left a little note to commemorate my departure.

Here are some pics...

Last night at Alibaba's : L to R : David, Marie, Ankur, Liz, Sarah, me, and Rajdeep


Liz is taking a Chinese cooking class so she make me a fairwell lunch
L to R: Sarah, me , Liz

That's all I have time for now, see you all soon!

a few last thoughts on China...

Well it's been a rough past few weeks as far as using the internet and blogging goes. First, about a month ago my hard drive died. It was a cheap chinese brand so I guess I had it coming. But no worries, I still had all of my photos and important papers saved on my lap top. ... well my laptop died last week so now I've lost everything :( all of my photos, all of my documents, and my research from India last year

So this will most likely be my last post before I head back to the states this friday. I can't believe how fast time has gone. I have just a few days left in China and I feel like I just arrived. My Chinese is at a point where I really don't want to go without practicing for a long time or I will lose it but if I continue I think I can become fluent.

So the TENTATIVE PLAN is:

I will apply for a scholarship to study Chinese at a university in China. I'll probably apply for a university here in Tianjin because I feel so comfortable in this city and all of my friends are here. If I get it I'll study 2 years for a degree in Chinese language.

PLAN B: If I don't get the scholarship to study Chinese there is an MBA program here in Tianjin that is run throught the Univeristy of Oklahoma City so I could study for an MBA in China but earn an American degree.

ohhhh who knows what will happen. At the moment all I can think about is coming home. So I'll leave these big decisions for a later date.

See you all soon!

photos

Hi folks. In case you didn't know you can check out my photos online from adventures in China and some from my Spring Festival trip to Thailand. go to http://community.webshots.com/user/biddle2

Indian breakfast: I choose my aquaintences wisely!

My friends here in China come from a variety of backgrounds; some Americans, Canadian, British, a number of Chinese, Nepali, and Indian. Rajdeep is Indian, from the northeast part called Assam. He's head chef at Alibaba's Indian restaurant here in Tianjin which means one very important thing: lots of free delicious Indian cooking!

He told me last week that he missed having breakfast with his family so he offered to cook up an Indian style breakfast for my friends so we could all eat together. I had to leave for work by 8am so we stayed up until 3am preparing the night before and woke back up at 6:30 to finish ... in the end, the lack of sleep was worth it.

A delicious breakfast of (poori (hollow bread), aloo parattha (a type of flat bread with potato and masala), bhaji (like a curry with different types of vegetables and masala, and kheer (a sweet dish made of milk, sugar, rice, raisins, and some different spices) mmmmmm

Coming home...

June 29th!

I finally bought my plane ticket. It cost an arm and a leg but my company will pay for an arm's worth. I can't wait to see family and friends again. I am also quite looking forward to trash-free streets, clean air, and free refills at restaurants!

Visuals

Left to right: Sarah (my Chinese-Canadian flatmate, she teaches at the same company), ME, and Liz (my Vietnamese flatmate, she teaches me Chinese and cooks for me)




Maybe this picture is a tad cliche but hey, I'm in China. It's to please the folks back home :) This is yours truly in Tiananmen Square with the Forbidden City in the background. I've visited this place a few too many times so it's sadly lost its oooh ahhhh appeal.


At a lantern shop during Spring Festival (February). Families decorate their homes with red lanterns and images of the character 福 which means happiness. At midnight on China's New Year's Eve eveyone and their mother comes out into the street and sets of a dazzling displace of fireworks. The kind of fireworks you see at a professional show in the use for July 4th can be bought by a child on the street corner. .. I'm just guessing but I bet the hospitals get a lot of business at that time of the year!