ni hao

I know, this took way too long! Sorry. Well, I am no longer a tourist in China. It’s official I have a category Z Chinese Visa (aka a working Visa). Pretty exciting. What’s even more exciting is that I had to fly to Hong Kong to get it. You must leave Mainland China to change your Visa category. My days off are Monday and Thursday, so my assistant just told me to take Monday to Friday to get everything taken care of. The flight to Hong Kong is about two hours and found a super cheap airline! From the airport I took the Airport Express (one of Hong Kong’s subway lines) to the Downtown/Central station of Hong Kong and was greeted by an old friend from High School. Katie and her fiancé have been living in Hong Kong for a couple of years now. Not only was it amazing to spend time with Katie and Kevin, but also to have two locals showing me around. Unfortunately I was there during the workweek, and they had to work. I guess I shouldn't say “unfortunately” I’m pretty happy they both have careers and are successful members of society.

I can only comparing my arrival to Hong Kong to arriving in Hawaii form the coldest, dumpiest, most miserable town in the Midwest. Hong Kong felt like paradise. Not that Hangzhou is a miserable hick town, but it is Mainland China. China can be very wearing. I was talking to my friend Mecah this morning; she just got back to Shanghai from Thailand. She said the people and life style in Thailand was so wonderful! And once she was back and at baggage claim she was getting bumped into and knocked around by Chinese people. Welcome back. Living here can make you so curt. I’m continually getting shoulder checked, and have no problem checking people right back, even if she’s 83. I miss strangers exchanging smiles… go smile at a stranger after you read this. It really means a lot.

Anyways… Hong Kong is nothing like Mainland China. In fact from now on, if you meet somebody that says they live in China, only to find out they live in Hong Kong you point a finger in their face and say “LIAR.” There is no need to speak Chinese when in Hong Kong. Speaking with a British accent would probably be more appropriate. It was so nice to have every label and menu in English. Oh my gosh, and to see a health food store! Now I miss Whole Foods like crazy, I really took them for granted.

Back to Katie and Kevin having to work during the week; It was totally fine by me. The first two days I had to go to the visa office in the morning. I would then spend the next few hours being a total tourist. Then back to their apartment to get ready for the evening. Every night Katie and Kevin had something planned. I men no concert tickets or anything, but they made a point to take me to a different part of town for dinner each night. Kevin even let Katie and I have a girl’s night one of the evenings. I miss having friends who already know everything about you! Not having to stop your story every few minutes to give a back-story on one of the characters. Katie already knows all the characters in my life! It was so much fun and a really enjoyable trip!

I got back to Hangzhou Friday morning and enjoyed the free day of no work (the school didn't need to know what time I got home; they said I could take Monday to Friday!). Saturday we threw a surprise party for a good friend. It totally worked; she was surprised.

I think I feel busier than I had been in the beginning because I am going to the gym more! I bought a membership and have been getting up every morning at 7:145. For the last 5 years my work schedule has created an unstable sleep schedule. When I was at Starbucks I was getting to work at 5am, and at my last job I was leaving work at 3am. Needles to say, I haven’t had a stable sleep pattern in years, and “they” say it is really important to have a consistent sleep schedule. And I always trust “they,” haven’t been let down once. I've also been planning the details for my best friends visit to China! Elizabeth will arrive in Shanghai tomorrow night. We've planned an awesome trip during Chinese New Year. It will be so great to travel and see some amazing places, but it will be just as great to just sit in and chat over a glass of wine for the evening. I miss that.