I have been here one week.....

Well, the supposed torential rains from the Typhoon never materialized, at least not in Nanchang. Anthony was very concerned last night that he would be stuck here another day, but I am assuming that he is now on his flight back to the US. And not to sound unappreciative of China and all, but I am kind of jealous. All I can say is, thank goodness I am only here for two weeks and not three like many of the previous groups that have been here.

Really, this is a bit of a surprise for me - I guess that I had different expectations of how I thought I would react, visiting China for the first time - afterall, my roots are in this country, my father was born here and being Chinese is part of who I am. I thought I would feel some sense of connection to the land, to the culture. Nope. Very little (if any!) connection. I am a bit disappointed in myself!

I guess the real thing is that being in a place like this can really put you out of your comfort zone. Everything is so different and the language barrier really exacerbates things. At least I am able to communicate a little here. I can only imagine the frustration of people like Dave, Anthony and the operators from work who don't speak any Chinese. I totally feel out of place (even though I blend in very well, LOL) here.

OK, I will stop my whining a look at the bright side of things. Yes, this experience really has brought me out of my comfort zone. That really isn't a bad thing every now and then. I will totally appreciate the conveniences of the US so much more. And I will be much more sensitive to visitors to the US, especially people who visit from this region. They must feel the same stress.

And I can start counting down the days until I am scheduled to leave.....8.....