Picture 1 & 2- I did it! I finished my first ever in a lifetime 5k! The first picture is of Yelitza & I (I run with her 3 times a week) just a few minutes after we finished. The second is of all the people who attended the race that were from SIAS (notice that over half of them are foreign faculty). I finished the race in 36 minutes. Not bad for a beginner (or so I've been told). I ran the whole thing and didn't pass out... that's the goal I was personally reaching for. Towards the end I thought my lungs were going to explode. How was the race different than that of a 5k in the States? Well I've never run one in the States, but I'm guessing it was A LOT different. When it began I thought I was going to get stampeded. There is no such thing as "personal space" in China... and if you fell... I wouldn't put it past them to step on you and keep going. Another unique factor of this race is the mid race photo ops. People would run up beside you and have their friend run up ahead and take a picture of them & you (the foreigner). What I really love though, is that they think we don't notice. I started posing for peoples pictures (all while running mind you). They thought it was hilarious! After the race the photo op continued for about 2 hours. "Can I make a photo with you?" was my favorite phrase, and of course I loved the people who couldn't even speak English but just put their arm around you and smiled.
Picture 3- Spring is here, and so are the yellow flowers that bloom in the countryside just behind SIAS campus. Spring is definitely my favorite season in China by far.
Picture 4- A few weeks ago I had to go to Zhengzhou (the capital city of Henan Province... about an hour from where we live) to buy a hair straightener. My student K texted me the night before asking if I wanted to go to Zhengzhou to go shopping. So instead of going alone, I got to spend quality time with one of my students (rarely happens because they usually come to see me in groups, or think I'm too busy to hang out with them). We had an amazing day together. Besides doing a little shopping, she showed me all around a little park in the city, and insisted on taking me to a place to get "Beijing Duck" for dinner (which is amazingly delicious by the way).
Picture 5- Me, Gabe, Gabe's student S & my student W. They are dating (or I should say "were dating"... I was informed today by W they broke up over the weekend). The four of us went last weekend to the park near campus and grilled out. Before we headed to the park we went to the market to buy food. We gathered vegetables of all sorts, and a few different kinds of meat as well. If any of you had seen where we got the meat from you probably would have said "no thank you!", but I guess I have been in China for so long now that things don't disturb me as they once had when I first arrived on this unfamiliar side of the world. It took us nearly all day to get the grill going, and to prepare and cook our food. But it was totally worth it! I love hanging out with my students. W sat next to me today on the bus back from Zhengzhou today (the foreign teachers had to go to the Public Safety Bureau again to be interrogated since we are staying another year). It was so cool to talk to him for that hour about what he wanted to do with his life, what his parents expectations are, and what he thinks will make the world better. He is a really insightful young man. If the whole reason for me coming to China was to meet him, than I could say it was definitely worth it (I feel this way about a lot of my students.
