Routines.
I hate them because they are boring and tedious, but I need them to stay grounded and aware (see this post for my views on routines a few years ago).
We moved to China exactly 3 years ago. The “plan” was to stay for one maybe two years. We didn’t intend to stay here for 3 years. We didn’t intend to stay here for 4 years. Yet here we are – signed up to stay for “just one more year”.
After traveling and living a nomadic life, I have come to really treasure home. Having a home to come back to, to welcome people to, to ground myself. Shenzhen is not my forever home, but it works for now. I’m able to balance work – play – study fairly well. I can make enough money to play and save. I get to learn about people vastly different from myself.
However, I am getting a little bored. I know Shenzhen pretty well. It’s easy to just go back to all the same places and not make the extra effort it requires to go someplace else. Yet for me, it’s so important to keep my experiences fresh.
Same City, New Experiences
One weekend, I was feeling a bit cooped up in our neighborhood so I made arrangements for us to meet up with our friend in another neighborhood that I don’t go to very often anymore: Houhai. Gaga Restaurant has a location there and I was craving their salmon kimchi rice dish. After dinner, we decided to go for a walk instead of getting a beer at the local brewery. We found ourselves at Shenzhen Talent Park. It’s a beautifully sculptured pond with running paths, drinking fountains, and a bridge with famous Shenzhen people. There’s even a shower room. It’s all super modern much like the parks in Shanghai and Singapore.
The lights were so beautiful and the weather was ideal. I felt blissfully happy being an urban explorer. Afterwards we were thirsty but being 10 p.m. all the tea shops were closed and there were no bars nearby. We found ourselves in the best Family Mart convenience store ever. It had plenty of seating, all the beverage options including any liquor you’d like. We sat and were amazed at our luck. It even had really good, free wifi. Even though I’ve lived in Shenzhen for 3 years now, there are still many, many new things I can enjoy to break up the tedium of my essential routines.
Socializing via The Game of Thrones
May also brought the end of The Game of Thrones. While I haven’t been an ardent viewer throughout the years, I did watch all the episodes last spring. But what made this final season so much fun is that we would go to our friend’s apartment and watch it and talk about it with a group of friends. Watching with a group of other people really made our Mondays something to look forward to. We enjoyed the social part so much that our friends are now discussing how to keep it going. What do you think we should watch next?
Some Things Never Get Easier
Despite loving the challenge of living in a foreign country, it is a challenge. Especially shopping for clothes and glasses. I feel like I try on a lot of clothes and they never fit me correctly or I don’t like the style. There isn’t much variety in women’s clothing here and I’m really not into the frilly, flowery, flowing clothes which seem to have infiltrated every.single.clothing.shop.
However, both Martin and I have been needing new prescription sunglasses for quite some time now. We knew it would be a challenge…but it was quite a hassle! Finding frames was easy. Choosing the lenses…not easy. Choosing lenses is difficult enough in English, impossible in Chinese. We just chose the cheapest lenses.
When the glasses finally arrived, neither of us could wear them. Martin’s were too heavy to wear comfortably for more than a minute. Mine made me feel dizzy and nauseous after just a few seconds.
We brought them back and the kind and patient employees helped us figure out what was wrong. After a long discussion with lots of Google translate help, it was decided that we both needed smaller frames. Both of us had chosen fairly large frames, which made the lenses bigger and thus heavier. For me, the larger lenses were also concave on one side, which was making me dizzy. We each chose new frames, they cut the lenses to fit and the problem was mostly solved. We visited the stores a couple more times to get the fit adjusted. Despite all the trouble, I was able to practice my Chinese, and we saw the employee so often that we are now friends.
Vegan Food and Fun at V-Station
Reconnecting with Old Friends
One of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting people from around the world. When we first set off from Minnesota way back in July 2014, we drove east through Canada, couch surfing in Ottawa and Montreal. We only stayed one night in Montreal, couch surfing with a Brazilian. He was so friendly and welcoming, he made our short stay there super memorable. Fast forward to five years later. He happened to be in Shenzhen for a day before returning to Canada from his work trip. So, of course we met up with him, had a drink, and watched the Futian light show. Again, we thoroughly enjoyed his company and made even more happy memories together.
May exams bring June exams
April showers bring May flowers is not so apt a saying here in southern China. While many schools in the States have already finished for the year, I still have four more weeks of classes (Martin has 6 more weeks). I’m not complaining – I get two months off in the winter and two months off in the summer.
Despite the school year not finishing yet, May brought a plethora of exams. I helped a friend prepare for the IELTS exam, and I helped a young student of mine prepare for the B1 Preliminary exam, both took these exams in the beginning of the month. I also had to administer too many retests at my university (instead of retaking the entire class when they fail, students just have to retake the final exam and they can retake it for up to 3 years…a policy I do not agree with at all). Even though June will also bring some final exams, I’m very thankful that May’s exams have concluded.
Summer Travel Plans
Looking forward to the summer, both Martin and I will be visiting the States. It has been a year and a half since we have been back and seen our family and friends. Too long! We miss them all dearly and are really looking forward to seeing everyone this summer. Martin and I will have a slightly different travel schedule due to our different school schedules, but I’ll be in the States from June 28 – August 22. I’m looking forward to seeing my cousins in San Diego and New York City. I’m also really looking forward to spending time with both my parents and Martin’s family. We’ll finish up our trip with time in Minneapolis/southern Minnesota to see some friends.
May by the Numbers
- 41 – classes taught
- 8 – hours of Chinese lessons
- 42 – hours spent studying grad school
- 31 – days in Shenzhen