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).

Teacher Day!

Monday was Teacher's Day here in China. It was also my first day teaching!


My sentiments about my first day teaching were similar to last year's. This semester, Monday is the busiest day of the week for me. I teach all morning, starting at eight a.m. I awoke at 6:15, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to seize the day. Instead, I received a pleasant surprise: my water was off. Apparently that's still going to be a thing.

No complaints, though. It's all part of the process... including the following day, Tuesday, when I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. Who has two thumbs and had to cancel classes on the first week? This guy, unfortunately.

Residential Malady

In my previous post, I mentioned an odd, but glad, feeling of homecoming upon returning to Lanzhou. I took that as a sign that I should upload a blog that I've been working on for some time. Full disclosure: I've written and rewritten this blog many times. I hope you enjoy it.

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.

The Great Firewall...

Earlier this year, I linked to a TED talk by the wonderful Abigail Washburn. I just hid it behind the text, because it wasn't vital to the story, but some great background information about her and her experiences.

This time, however, I've found a fascinating TED talk that I want to share with everyone. Embedded below (or found here) is Jing Zhao speaking about one of the most ubiquitous (and misunderstood) aspects of contemporary Chinese culture: internet censorship.