The whole month of July has been full of travels throughout the United States to visit family and friends.
San Diego, California
I arrived at the end of June in San Diego to visit my cousin Buffy for about 10 days. She had visited me in China just this past April/May so it felt extra special to be able to see her again so soon.
She helped me overcome some of my culture shock since it had been about 1.5 years since my last visit to the States. We hiked a couple of mountains to make the most of the gorgeous San Diego weather. We visited a winery, farmer’s market, explored some neighborhoods, and of course got plenty of delicious vegan food.
Buffy has two dogs, Radar and Torii, who I hadn’t seen in about 4 years. They kept me company as I worked on a couple essays for my Master’s degree. I loved taking them for walks with Buffy because they always made the neighbors smile. Torii (the black dog) needs to use a wheelchair to walk now, yet she still has plenty of energy to say hi to everyone.
New York City, New York
After San Diego, I flew to the East coast to visit my other cousin, Coralie, in New York City. She doesn’t have any dogs like Buffy does, but she does have an adorable four-year-old and three cats. She also fosters kittens and had just gotten Penelope a few days before I arrived. The kitten constantly distracted me from my studying with her adorableness.
Joyce (and Coralie) showed me all her favorite places in New York City: the sharks and whales at the Museum of Natural History, the rocks at Central Park, the sharks at the aquarium, and the rides and seashells at Coney Island.
My cousin helped to make my 40th birthday (OMG!!!) so special. She made me breakfast, gave me vegan cupcakes, and took me out for an epic dinner at the vegan restaurant Caravan of Dreams. I also got my nails done and got to practice my Chinese at the salon. It was a wonderful day, thanks in large part to my cousin.
Henning, Minnesota
Martin’s school finally let out for the summer and he flew into Minneapolis the same day I did. His parents, thankfully, met us at the airport and drove us to their beautiful lakeside home. Just a couple days after Martin and I were reunited, we went our separate ways again to spend some quality time at our respective parents’ homes.
Comstock, Minnesota
Since my mom is retired, we got to spend an entire week together doing fun, ordinary things like cooking, refinishing furniture, going for walks, and going shopping. In the evenings my dad joined us in our ordinary fun. He and I even went for a couple of motorcycle rides. One afternoon we drove up to Grand Forks and visited my grandmother, which is always a special treat.
One of my friends from Shenzhen was also traveling in the States this summer and was able to spend a few days with me. Martin returned from his parents’ house and we all got to be tourists in Fargo.
Lake Plantagenet, Minnesota
I always treasure the time I get to spend at my family’s lake cabin near Bemidji. My parents had a great time sharing their lake traditions with my friend Grace. We went fishing, played games, visited Paul Bunyan in Bemidji, went for a walk and found wild raspberries, and hung out on the water. My aunt had even left some homemade lefse which really made our day!
On our way home from the lake, we stopped at Itasca State Park to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River. I had forgotten how beautiful this park was and wished we had saved more time to spend there.
Martin and I have about 3 more weeks to spend in the States before heading back to Shenzhen. In that time, we’ll be with Martin’s family and visiting some of our friends in Minneapolis. I feel so fortunate to be able to have this quality time to spend with my family. I may live far away, but I feel like I get to enjoy my family more now than I did when I just lived in Minneapolis.