Turkey Day!

It's been 10 days since I last posted here... far too long, if you ask me, but I've been quite busy. I've been correcting homework, homework, homework... trying to get reimbursed for my flight (that should go through very soon), and creating a written test to administer to my Oral class. This will be their only written test, I've decided. Their final exam will be verbal-only, since I have just been told that that is an acceptable possibility. In addition, I'm expected to have drafts of the finals for both my oral and written classes by the end of next week. It shouldn't be too terribly difficult. Just time-consuming. Right now, though, I'm hoping that the copy room I delivered my paper-test to will have my 90 copies done today. I don't want to have to put this test off yet another week because they couldn't get around to hitting the buttons "9" "0" and "Print."

But what I really wanted to post about today was that it's Thanksgiving here in China. The rest of you lugs have to wait another 12 hours for your Turkey Day to come around so HA! I win! Thinking on this holiday (which, once again, I'm one of the only people celebrating around here), I started thinking of all the things I was thankful for. This is really one of the first times I've done this of my own volition. But here, so far away from who and what I know, one often faces the choice of succumbing to homesickness and loneliness, or to remember what it is you do have. And so...

1. Of course, my family, who has helped me get here, and now continually help me get by here with their messages, emailed jokes, and calls. Thanks guys! Please keep em coming! This leads me to...

2. The Internet! Without the Internet here, I think I would've gone absolutely mad by now. It's my refuge in the storm, my contact-point back to the relatively sanity of a culture of my own. Add into this that wonderous tools it offers like Skype, blogging, Facebook, and email, and I've got a resource that lets me all-but-touch the people I care about back home.

3. My new expat and Chinese friends. Little enough to say here. They're the people who can either commiserate over a gin and tonic at the La Luna Bar, or explain to me why their people can be so damn weird and - let's face it - infuriating sometimes. Not the least of which is...

4. Sun Jienan. AKA Nancy Sun. My lady of the Asian persuasion. We're having a very good time with each other (as I'm sure the pictures I keep posting have shown.) Though she, too, drives like a bat out of hell, she has swiftly become a person I trust and care about. And that's done a lot to keep me going on my not-so-good days.

5. Cheap (i.e. >$2) DVDs. Though they may sometimes be the worst quality imaginable... dubbed in only Chinese, or half English/half Russian dialogue... in reality this cheap, renewable entertainment wellspring has given me many, many hours of entertainment. Thanks, "DVD Bass!" (sometimes known as "DVD Boss.")

6. And finally, I'm thankful for my own quirky, strange, sarcastic, sense of humor. It's the voice in my head making snide comments that only I would ever find funny. It's the reason I sometimes start laughing for absolutely no reason (the voices in my head told me a funny joke). And this weird sense of humor has probably been one of the biggest factors of keeping me sane while in China. Let's face it, the situation I'm in is utterly absurd, virtually everyday. I live, work, and interact in an environment where I'm largely at the mercy of people who have no idea what I'm saying. And yet, I'm treated as either a Hollywood celebrity, a demigod, or a handy marketing tool. If I couldn't laugh at the situations I find myself in, I'd have gone stark raving mad by now.

So Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Sorry I cant be there with you eating tukrey and mashed potatoes and good wine (no, really, I really really REALLY wish I was!), but I hope that you all remember what you are thankful for as well. And I hope we'll be eating turkey together next T-Day!

(CS)WC Out.

There is blood in the thread and it rakes at my heart