Recent Adventures

The fam in Tokyo! Can't believe we got a picture
with all of us smiling at the same time.

I refuse to beat myself up over not updating, but where did summer go again? Oh wait it's definitely still summer, evidenced by the strength of the sun and the heat of each day. And the length of my days! Summer means extra summer camp classes for me, which means longer hours. I'll blame my absence these past two months on that.

Since June started I've been to Danxia Mountain, Hong Kong, Macau, Tokyo, and Dongchong beach outside of Shenzhen. And they've all been some wildly different trips! So continue on for a picture-heavy recap of my summer so far.

Finding the Motivation to Explore Home

Blue skies? In Guangzhou? It's been surprisingly clear
recently, perhaps because of all the rain.

Oh, hello June! You crept up out of nowhere. How is it already June? There are a lot of exciting things I have planned for this month (not the least of which will be my family visiting at the end of this month – can't wait!), but I still don't think I was ready for it.

I've been in Guangzhou long enough that it is officially home. I breathe that welcome-home sigh of relief when I open my door, kick off my shoes and drop off my bag. And my room is recognizably mine: plenty of knickknacks lining available surfaces; bed hopelessly, forever unmade; floor covered in clothes, both clean and dirty. Feels like home to me.

But the problem with thinking of Guangzhou as home is that it's easy to forget how little I've seen of the city and how short a time I've actually been here. Weeks pass and I do little outside my typical routine – work, gym, late nights, laundry, grocery shopping. Long mornings spent in bed in front of the computer, trying to drag my butt out of the apartment to do the many things on my to-do list. Honestly, who has the time to explore the many wonders this city has to offer, when there's so much day-to-day stuff to get done (or procrastinate and ignore)?

Beach Vacay, China-Style

Caitlin and I getting sand-covered and sun-kissed.

Last month, our center closed for some much-needed air conditioning repairs. The closing coincided with a national holiday, May Day (the Chinese Labor Day), so by taking one day off I got five days of vacation! An opportunity I couldn't (and didn't) refuse.

Just south of mainland China is a little island province called Hainan. Known to some as the Hawaii of China, Hainan came much recommended and is only an hour and a half plane ride away.

So when Caitlin and I heard we'd have some time off, we bought plane tickets to Sanya and packed our bags for a few days of blue skies and sand! The train is cheaper and supposed to be really cool, since at one point the train cars are actually loaded on a ferry to get to the island, but would have taken too much time away from our vacation. Alas.

A Quick Look at My Day-to-Day

The view of the Pearl River from my balcony at sunset - not bad!

Sorry for the delay, folks. Going to start getting into a better blogging habit, as I (foolishly, it seems) promised before I left for China.

It's hard to believe that this is my three-month mark. There's no way I've been in Guangzhou for three months already! No way that it's been even longer than that since I was last in Tampa! But the date is probably more reliable than my perception of time, so I'll trust it.

I certainly feel settled now, and have some semblance of a routine. My days off are Tuesday and Wednesday, for those looking for the best times to Skype with me, although I try to fill my days off with adventures around the city or much needed errands.

On Ordering Chicken Feet and Other Adventures

The harbor at night, viewed from the highest point
in Hong Kong, Victoria's Peak. It was windy!

Greetings from Hong Kong! Xīn nián kuài lè! I've been here nearly a week, I know, but Hong Kong is a bustling, busy city and it definitely took a few days for me to get my bearings, shake off the lingering jet lag, and experience enough to give me something to write about.

Now, I could do a minute by minute recap of the last few days, but clearly what everyone really wants to hear about are the misadventures that come from being in a city where I know none of the language and can read and recognize nothing. Let me preface this by saying that I've not yet gotten sick and not yet tasted anything that I truly didn't like or had to spit out. Which I think means I'm not trying hard enough! I will try harder.

So, the food. Believe it or not, I've not had much rice in my diet as of yet: most of my meals have consisted of noodles, which are similar to (but much better than) ramen noodles in the states. I've tried an assortment of additions to these noodles - that's how I discovered that I apparently like shrimp roe! Also, the thing so far that has made my stomach turn the most was the gray beef meat balls I sampled on my noodles for dinner tonight. Yes, the menu picture I pointed to was labeled "beef," but what kind of beef and what part of the cow were definitely in question. The fish ball additions to my noodles I tried on the first day were much more to my liking.

Best Bits: The Night Tour With Tracie "The Bug Lady"

In an attempt to knock out two birds with one stone, I am going to discuss my brief encounter with Costa Rica while also beginning what I hope will be a long series on my favorite parts of travel from all over the world.  The "Best Bits" series will highlight my favorite restaurants, accommodations, museums, tours, buildings, coffee shops, etc etc from my various travels.

Tracie and Gian not only find the smallest, neatest creatures
(like this glass frog), but they also helpfully
arrange picture-taking and closer looks.

For this installment, I'd like to talk about the part of my Costa Rican trip that I've been ranting and raving about ever since I experienced it.  But it's also the part of my trip that everyone probably overlooks as something I found awesome, but they might not enjoy.  'Bugs and snakes and other creepy crawlies late at night in Costa Rica?  No thanks,' is probably what you're thinking.  But no!  The Night Tour with Tracie "The Bug Lady" is seriously one of the most unmissable and under-priced tours I have ever heard of.

Every night in Drake Bay, Costa Rica - an area on the Osa Peninsula, hours to the southwest of the capital and center of the country - Tracie and Gianfranco team up to show you a side of Costa Rica that would otherwise require a botany degree and years of patience to discover.  You gather together as a group of maybe a dozen tour-goers after the sun goes down, where they provide you with headlamps, and the tour immediately begins as they start showing you the unseen life all around you.  Within minutes we had already seen several sleeping, seemingly-invisible lizards and iguanas and Gian walked us down an embankment to see a gigantic, dirt-colored Smoky Jungle frog.

New New New

Behold: a new year, a new blog layout, and a renewed commitment to posting fresh content as I move on to new opportunities.

It is hard to believe that eight months have already passed since I sat in a stadium and moved that tassel across my hat. It's weird that it's been that long since I've seen Duke and some of my closest friends.

It's even harder and weirder to wrap my brain around just how far away I'll be from everything I have ever known in about a month. Guangzhou is still a name on a piece of paper and some pictures that show up on an image search. China is an intimidatingly huge country full of places I want to explore, but it still looks small when I look at it on my google maps.

But I should have a visa in my passport and a plane ticket in my possession before the end of this month, so maybe it will feel more real then.

In the meantime, I hope to fill this blog with a recap of my brief Costa Rican encounter, some details about packing and what I'll be bringing with me to the other side of the globe, and my thoughts as I spend my last days in America for who knows how long. I also will be starting a new series, in which I look back at my favorite places/experiences/hostels/restaurants/museums/etc. from my various destinations and hometowns and explain why they make it on my favorites list. So be on the lookout for new content, let me know if you'd like to see me write about something in particular, and I hope you enjoy my continued ramblings.

Welcome to 2013, everyone. Our days ahead are full of promise.