So Far East It's North

Hey Guys.

I know it's an absurd hour right now, but I'm too excited about life to sleep right now. I love China, I love camp, I love my Austin friends, I love RICE, I love philosophical conversations in Chinese (that's right, you heard me right- ideas in CHINESE) and I love love love this whole experiencing life thing. It's crazier than anything I could imagine.

Last weekend CET and all our roomies went to 丹东, which is a little city of about 2 million people near the coast and North Korea. Here are some highlights:

-I saw North Korea. You can too! It's behind us. PS my roomie rocks.


-I met some North Koreans. My Chinese was better than theirs.

-I helped a stereotypical hey-I'ma-tour-China-even-though-I-don't-speak-a-fucking-word-of-their-silly-language American man order lunch and local beer. America win.

-The program kids played an absurd game that involved bathrobes, a table, sound effects, floor wrestling, and smacking noses (mostly Cooper's).

-I remembered why I don't wear makeup in China. The Chinese equivalent of a good 'ole boy's phone number is still scribbled on the back of my homework, though I did manage to rebuff his invitations for lunch and get him off of my bed on the train.

-It rained a lot, which was okay because I wear two pairs of pants every fucking day anyway.

-I miss driving. Lord knows I drive better than our bus driver did.

-New favorite game! When strangers comment on the 外国人, the CET students and our 地道的 Chinese roommates all turn to each other and comment among ourselves saying, "What? Outsider? Where??" Then we sort of point at one of us and murmur, "Oooohhh...I bet they're Russian. Yeah, definitely Russian..blonde hair..." This works best when the individual being commented on is in fact a Chinese roomie.

-Huangwei and I had a philosophical conversation in Chinese, and I came away with altered views, meaning we effectively communicated ideas. Points all around.

-Saw some more of the wall. You can too!



-So multicultural it hurts, every day:



Guys, I'm gonna miss my friends here. I'm gonna miss getting cat-called on the street. I'm gonna miss my crazy one-on-one teacher who never gets impatient with my crappy-ass reading skills. I'm gonna miss carrying my own little collection of TP everywhere I go. I'm gonna miss practicing this crazy new skill every, single day. I'm gonna miss joking around with Americans and Chinese kids and just enjoying life together. Heck, I'm gonna miss being confused and surprised all the time.

Seriously though, it's being oceans (or a significant number of continental united states) away from the people here that is gonna cause me the most heartache. These kids, and heck teachers too, understand at least one facet of me that I (literally) can't translate back to you kids at home. This experience has been, is, and tomorrow will be just incredible. Home guys, bad news but my favorite language is Chinglesh now, not just as a gimmick but as the most effective means of communication at my disposal. Only my CET peeps can hear me out on that one, and I plan to enjoy the hell out of these next few weeks. Amen.

Too many homes/I love life,
China-Cat