Hanoi is amazing- French food, cheese, yogurt, salad, sandwiches.

I could almost live here- except the traffic is insane (we saw someone get hit by a motorbike) and I don’t speak the language (not like that stopped me with China though).

Last night I slipped into a gutter along the edge of the night market though- my shoe, my sock, my foot, and my jeans were soaked through with disgusting sewage-smelling water. UGH.

But other than that, so far Vietnam has been fantastic- everything is incredibly colorful here. It’s quite a change from Yizhou!

Well, I’m going to get back to my French cheese and French bread now…

So, the May holiday has begun!

Kate and I are in Longzhou at Kyle’s apartment.
It has been raining here and probably all across Guangxi Province for the past few days, but it seems to have let up for now. The sky is a light gray and it certainly looks like more rain though.

In about half an hour, we’ll head out and start our journey to Vietnam.
We’ve got our visas, our rain coats, umbrellas, and sunscreen (you never know). This is going to be an adventure.
Hanoi, here I come!

So I’ve just returned from my first official visit to a doctor to have something checked out.
Last term I had an injection at the school clinic, but that doesn’t count. The scary part about that is that I’m not entirely sure what that injection was for!

However, I have apparently been bitten by some horrible sort of bug. Then, the matter was complicated by the fact that the bite got infected. Lots of fun, I assure you.

I was extremely hesitant about going to see a doctor. I don’t know how many of you are in China now or have been to China before, but I must tell you something that I have observed- they give every patient an IV, seemingly regardless of what they’re there for.
Well, those of you who know me are probably aware that I have a ridiculous fear of needles, basically a phobia. Therfore, the mere thought of a needle stuck anywhere in me, makes me tear up and shake a bit. I had already decided that I wasn’t going to a doctor unless I thought I might die.
It didn’t seem to be a near-death moment, but I’m going to Vietnam on Sunday, and the last thing I want is to get sick from a bite when I’m not anywhere near home.
I decided to just tough it out and see what happened. One of my wonderful coteachers helped me go to the clinic and show the doctor/nurse (not really sure what he is) my lovely bite.

He shook his head when he looked at it, then told me that it was infected and I should have come in as soon as I got the bite. Then he cleaned it out (which, I must say, was not the most fun) and gave me a couple of creams to apply for the next week until it gets better.
He either didn’t know what bug it was, or it couldn’t be translated, but it was made clear to me that I should be careful because there are many dangerous insects around this area. Fantastic.

I’m just glad that it’s taken care of now.

This afternoon, I’m heading out to Longzhou to spend a couple of days with Kyle. It sounds like the weather down there is fairly warm. It’s raining here right now, so the weather is just perfect. We’ve had a lovely mixture of rain and sunny days recently. I love a good rainstorm, and it keeps it from getting too unbearably hot here.

My students this term have a tendency to say “My China” or “Our China”. As their oral English teacher, that bothers me. Who says that? I would never say “My United States” (that just reminded me of a song though) or “Our United States of America”.
I just thought that it had a strange sound to it. When students used that phrase, I let it go, but I must say I didn’t like it.

On Friday afternoon, I biked with seven of my students to XiaoLong. I’ve been there a few times before, it’s one of my favorite places around Yizhou- refreshingly clean and beautiful. However, I’ve always taken a bus. Who knew that a 15 minute bus ride could turn into an hour long, mostly uphill fight with a rented, rusty bike and students who are not good at biking? (Who knew that was a possibility in China?)
During one of our short breaks to catch our breath, I was having a conversation with one of the students. During our discussion, he referred to “Our China”, so I asked him about it. I told him that I had observed that most students use those same words.

He told me that it most likely comes from the old idea that China is the greatest country in the world and that China only belongs to the Chinese and no one else. It is simply to emphasize that China does not belong to anyone else and it’s a way of expressing pride in the country.

It was a mild shock to have it so clearly pointed out to me.

I’m not completely ignorant, in case you weren’t sure. I know that I’m not actually Chinese. I realize that I have a contract to be here for two years and once that contract ends, I will most likely return back to the U.S.A.
However, the difficult part to swallow is the knowledge that even if I wanted to spend the rest of my life in China, it would never really be “My China”. Even if I spoke fluent Mandarin, or even the local dialect, I would never really belong here.

It’s strange to think that I was born an American and no matter what happens, I’ll always be considered an American, no matter where I choose to live the remaining days of my life. I may disagree with the President, the Courts, or my local Representative. It won’t matter- I will still be held accountable by the decisions made back the The States.
I didn’t make that choice.

I guess that I spent my youth deceived by the idea that I could be whoever I wanted to be and whatever I wanted to be as long as I worked hard enough to do it.
It has taken me years, but I’ve finally come to the realization that it’s not entirely true.
There are many things that I will never be, and Chinese is one of those.
I’m reminded of it every single day.