Zen, part Two

When we last left our hero, he was brimming with optimism—the hope of a pleasant vacation to recharge the proverbial batteries and reboot the proverbial operating system on the horizon. (Is it obvious I recently had to take my computer to the Apple Store?) Alas, this happy ending was not in the cards…

That’s right. After writing about how low I had fallen during the fall, and writing about how optimistic I was going into the winter, I found myself crestfallen, perhaps lower and more downtrodden than ever before.

Why?

Well, I thought you’d never ask.

traveltraveltravel.

I know what you're thinking: "He wrote in December all about how he was going to be more proactive with his blog. He promised writing, and hasn't posted since... He's got a lot of nerve showing his face around here again."

Maybe you're kinder than that. If so, thanks. If not, I KNOW! I am the worst. There are two reasons for my absence. First and most serious, my VPN hasn't been working at all. Without it, I'm trapped behind the Great Firewall, and therefore cannot post. I have been unable. That doesn't mean, however, that I haven't been writing. I have quite the backlog that I need to publish (sound familiar?). At the current moment, I'm mooching a friend's VPN and thought I might have enough time to post something. 

The other, more awesome reason I've not posted in a while is because I've been busy. Busy travelling. I spent the entire month of January and the first half of February enjoying everything Yunnan has to offer (and making a pitstop in Chengdu for IST). I will talk more about all of that at a later date. However in the meantime, I'd like to ask anyone reading to remember how happy I was about my summer travel...

Saving Summer: Shanghai

After six weeks on crutches, doing physical therapy, in a general state of inactivity, I was free. I know I mentioned it once already, but that’s where this story begins: pure elation at finally being free, and a train ride.

After being a part of the new trainee’s site-placement announcement, I wanted to depart from Chengdu as soon as possible. This meant taking the first available ticket: a hard seat. The longest hard seat I had taken was Lanzhou to Chengdu, clocking in at twenty-one hours; this hard seat took a whopping thirty-two (if you’re curious about the inner-workings of my psyche, I wrote that sentence with an impression of Mo).

Home Sweet Home?

In an effort to keep people in the loop, I wanted everyone to know I am back in Lanzhou. When I got off the train and took my first breath of that dusty, dry air, I had the most startling feeling: I was glad to be back.

If you read about my travel plans, I had a busy couple weeks in front of me. I had a great time everywhere, but by the time I got to Wuhan, I was exhausted.

I left Lanzhou at the end of June, and almost exactly two months later, I've returned. It feels good. 

According to my friend, this was the scene in Lanzhou
yesterday. Obviously, the city is happy I'm back...

Injury report: a final update.

After spending what felt like an eternity in Chengdu (specifically, it was six weeks or 1010.3 hours, if you're curious), I was finally given permission to leave and carry on with my service. (This may not be news to those who saw my facebook updates the last couple days, but I [boldly, and probably erroneously] assume not all my readers are my friends on facebook, too.)

My stress fracture has healed enough that I am walking on it. My first week of walking on it came during Eco Camp (don't worry, a blog to come), and with each week, I'm doing more and more. I'm still resting often, and doing a lot of stretching and exercising. The first weeks of walking were difficult. My legs were constantly sore--I guess that's what happens when you don't walk on them for a month.

I didn't want to return to Lanzhou yet. Instead, my project for the remainder of August is Operation Save My Summer. Currently on the itinerary is Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan and Beijing. However, I'm not travelling with an itinerary, so things could change; I just want to relax and enjoy my time in each city (and on the orders of the PCMO, I shouldn't be climbing mountains or anything particularly adventurous).

I'm already enjoying Shanghai.

Also, if you haven't gotten a chance, learn something about The Great Firewall of China.

Qingming

What’s the point of having a holiday if you have to make it up on the weekend?

I have received this question literally every time I explain how universities in China handle holiday schedules. For example, 4 April this year was the date for Qingming Jie, or the Tomb Sweeping festival. With the holiday on Wednesday, I was informed by my school that we would have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off. (Before you get too excited, remember the question above.) Even though the holiday was for three days, Monday and Tuesday’s classes were to be made up on the Saturday and Sunday preceding the holiday.

So what’s the point of having a holiday if you have to make it up on the weekend? 不知道. I don't know. I bitterly asked myself that question as I taught Saturday and again on Sunday, but the bitterness quickly faded after class on Sunday, because I had plans to travel regardless.

Injury report...

My birthday wish has come true: I don't have a cast on my leg.

Running Through Xi'an

Also, it should please you
to know that I am treating
myself.

I did it. I ran a half-marathon. 

I've been reading a lot of "what to do after the marathon" blogs, and many of them talk about developing runner's depression after a race. They recommend that you wait a week before really reflecting on the race and what happened, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to wait a week before I try and write about it. 

Sorry if you came here today to read all about it... Stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy another old post from before my VPN. This (hopefully) fascinating read is about my four-day, three-night trip to beautiful Xi'an over the winter holiday.