How long have you been in China?

It has recently occured to me that I have just sailed by my 2/3 mark in my contract, and year-long stay in China. It hit me last week when I woke up and realized that, crap - IT'S MAY?! 8 months down! When did that happen?!

Last year at this time my friends and I were finally getting settled down in Fremantle, WA, Australia. We were living in a ghetto/creepy side town called Hilton with an American couple in the house, and Mexican, German, and Dutch couples living in our driveway (well in their vans to be more specific). It was amazing. Super broke, still cleaning the cobwebs from our rooms, deciding to leave the massive spiders in the kitchen to catch the flies, and entertaining ourselves with international scrabble games and learning the 'soldiar boy' dance. Some of the best memories to date.

All of us on Josh's Birthday! Fremantle, WA - Australia

 Fast foward a year and after a brutally cold winter, I'm learning to come to terms with the 86 degree days and summertime in Xi'an. I'm still living with Alex (London, UK) but he will soon be going to start on his 'real life' after traveling around Asia for a bit. Replacing him will be one of my good friends from my travels through Oz, none other than Jess MacDonald! We're still waiting on the Chinese-Canadian consulate to accept her visa based on stupid-idiotic-unnecessary-ridiculous medical forms. Honestly, who has the Bubonic Plague these days? Nobody from Fredericton, NB I don't think?! But again, who knows with those Canadians up there... I kid. Anyway, we're crossing our fingers that she gets here by the end of May armed with her amazing accent and wealth of Canadian knowledge. Being outnumbered now 5-2 by Brits, Scott and I definitely need another North American in our corner. However, as pointed out by one of those smarty pants British boys, apparently Canadians and UK folk agree on important things such as the spelling of 'favourite' and 'colour'. Guess I'll continue to lose arguments on the spelling font. Lame.

Jess and I in St. Kilda, Victoria - Australia. Clearly, teacher material.

Adam is back in the UK at the moment catching up on everything that isn't sleep. Friends, partying, eating (specifically - SANDWICHES), moving house, and seeing family. Jealous. He'll be back around the same time Jess will get here and will either continue working at Kid Castle or move onto another job in the city. Charlie (short for Charlotte) just arrived a couple of weeks ago and is living with Adele in the 'nice apartment'. That makes FOUR from our group that calls the magical place of Milton Keynes home. Monopoly.

Adam and I at his going away party at Fantasy! Cigars and champagne!

Charlie and I at Fantasy for her first time! Welcome to Chinese clubs!

We've had TONS of visitors since the New Year has hit us (the Chinese one, that is). Matt Englander, Leo Siddle, and Rich Legasse have graced us with their precense at various points and provided with ample opportunities to 'live it up' and show them the nightlife, and in our defense - a bit of the day life, that Xi'an has to offer. All great guys who have known the Milton Keynes group for years... It was definitely refreshing to have new faces around. Rich is currently living in Hong Kong, Leo is London, and Matt is now in Australia! Crazy.

Hahah... Me, Tom, and Leo at Fantasy! Happiness.

Matt and Leo getting down with a regular.

Rich, Adele, and Adam at German Beer Bar!

What else has happened? Well Tom and I took a quick trip to Nanjing (see previous blog) to visit Zack Ober and to see the Nanjing Massacre Museum. Nanjing made my Chinese city count go up to SIX cities which I'm pretty excited about. Hong Kong, Xi'an, Beijing, Kunming, Jinghong, and Nanjing! Phew, so many N's and J's in those names! Anyway, I'll post a better blog about that trip with pictures next! It was amazing and so good to pack up a bag and get out of Xi'an for a couple of days.

Top 5 things I've done in the last 8 months (not in order) :::

1) Ate yummy foods like scorpians (big and small), cockroaches, and centipedes on sticks.
2) Did a 4 day trek through the boarder of China and Myanmar (Burma) with Tom Jamieson. We stayed in tiny villages where they didn't have running water and only minimal electricity. The older women's teeth were dyed brown for health purposes and beauty. It was amazing.
3) Nanjing / Nanking Massacre Museum. If you don't know about this, google it. It'll blow your mind that we weren't taught this growing up when learning about WW2. So unbelievably sad.
4) Made and ate my own dumplings. Kung pow!
5) Had an afternoon / evening BBQ on the side of a lake with most of my best friends here. Complete with lotus root, sausages, chicken wings, beer, and beijiou. It was absolutely beautiful and reminded me of camping, traveling, and living out of a van. I miss being near the water!

Okay, that's all for today! Still have to finish prepping for my open house I have today! Hopefully the parents will chalk the fact that I'll be sweating like mad up to me being just another silly foreigner. 'They are so strange, aren't they?'

Happy May ladies and gents! And to the ENORMOUS amount of people I know born in this hot month - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I'm in China, so I'm sorry if you don't get anything besides a facebook post. I'll make it up next year, promise!

Love & miss you all. Every day!
xoxo
Em

Me at our Chinese BBQ!