joy is...

...an unplanned coffee date with a good friend
...6 hours later pretty much finishing my job application for the CRC
...london fog latté
...the cold with snow on the horizon (pleaaaase)
...gluten free cupcakes
...finding out that my student account will let me drop $2500 in loans this semester.

transitions of 2011

Today I find myself with a bit of time alone (mostly because I am home sick instead of at work). I have had the most wonderful and slightly overwhelming past few days. Managing to surprise multiple people and get picked up and spun around more than once as a greeting is actually incredibly fun. My desire to get on campus and get to see multiple people has really conflicted with wanting to stay home and rest. Also going from a semester surrounded by basically 10 different people into hundreds is a bit overwhelming. 

I'm going to copy a bit from my friend David's blog and put up a few pictures from 2011. But with more pictures than him. And inevitably more words, since I am a wordy person.

2011 started off with a bang for me. I was in Abu Dhabi with my parents and Kyle and Kirsti for the winter holidays with the Self's. Talk about a Christmas vacation.

A few days later (the 3rd or 4th?), I found myself on a plane heading west to the London Heathrow international airport. I met up with my class, led by the incredibly knowledgeable Keith Beebe, and traveled through London, Oxford, York, Durham, Whitby, Edinburgh and Inverness (I might have missed a few). On this trip, I learned so much about the history of the UK and the church. I also had the joy of meeting some of the most incredible people, some of whom I am living with right now!

 Big Ben, London

 the tower bridge, London

 York                                             Whitby Village

The end of January brought me back to the motherland: Spokane. I finished the school year off as a Resident Assistant and solidifying some good friendships.

 These three people are such great friends :)

 Spring break in Gig Harbor!

 Whitworth LARPing

One of my favorite team bonding moments :) What is better than throwing paint at each other?

This summer I stayed in Spokane, working with some WONDERFUL men and women in the facilities services office at school (I was very excited to get back to work this spring), shutting back and forth to Lynden to spend time with Kyle and Kirsti while they were visiting and then mom and dad before they went back to Guangzhou.

Family picture taken on Mt. Baker June 26th

September came rolling around and I found myself packing up and heading to Monte de la Cruz, Costa Rica. I don't think I can pick just a few pictures from that semester, but I will try. I was challenged to lengths I did not expect and made some really good friends.

 One of the oldest cathedrals in Central America: León, Nicaragua

                                  Manzanillo, Costa Rica                                 Hannia (aka Kuki), my host mom

 Playa Blanca, Costa Rica - Pacific coasts

Crocodile tour. Wonderful people. German tourists!

Early December and I find myself boarding more planes: back to the US for 30 hours and onward, to Hong Kong and Guangzhou!

                                     obligatory family Christmas photo                                  I love me some HK.

And finally, just in time for New Years, I board my last plane of the year to Vancouver on December 31st. Land on the 30th and am picked up by the most wonderful family: the Roorda's. And that is my adventure! The first of the year found me back in Spokane, settling in to my house. I have no idea where the rest of this year is going to take me (minus Ireland - bought those tickets over Christmas). Job ideas? Let me know! :)

As it is said: Congratulations graduate! Welcome to unemployment! 

Guangzhou Once More

I have been taking a few notes in a small notebook since being here in the birthplace of my blog. Some of them follow. 

Last time I came to Guangzhou, I didn't want to be here. I was exhausted from a summer of work and was very uncomfortable in a place where I had no bearings, no sense of direction and did not feel like home; not to mention that I have quite a few stereotypes of the mainland thanks to living in Hong Kong. I decided to come in with a different outlook this time. While in Costa Rica, I learned (through very good examples) what it is to enter into situations where you might be uncomfortable or at least a bit culturally-disoriented with as little judgement as possible. I think I am understanding why my cousin Chris enjoys the Chinese culture so much. In a city as large as Guangzhou, I definitely wish I could understand and better communicate with people.

This vacation is not very much of a vacation. In between days of going to markets and shops, I make the trek to Hong Kong (about every other day) for doctor's appointments to clean up my system and such things. Which means I get plenty of train time and thus watching people time. The other day I met my dad at Starbucks after I got back in the afternoon and it just blew my mind how many people were in the store. Starbucks is now changing the taste for coffee worldwide; making people crave sugary flavored italian coffee drinks instead of the traditional plain coffee (possibly with milk and sugar). Here, as in other places, it is a status symbol. There were many people holding business meetings, students studying, moms with young children and nannies, etc. When there used to be so few Starbucks' in Guangzhou, there has been a start to almost mass-produce the stores. The baristas know the drink names in both English and Mandarin (and probably Cantonese, to be honest) and pump them out incredibly fast. Side note - they have a drink called a cranberry white chocolate mocha; it is delicious. 

The train is also ridiculous. It probably holds 800-1,000 people running from Guangzhou to Shenzhen every ten minutes from 5:45 am until probably 9pm. They run full almost every ride I have been on. No words can describe the masses of pushy people trying to get on a train that they have assigned seats for. 

Racism is pretty big here. It is somewhat surprising. I feel like I learned in one of my classes that racism is only really a problem in the United States (mostly because there are people who choose to acknowledge that it is a systemic problem that creates both physical and psychological violence). What I have realized after my time in Costa Rica and in Guangzhou is that racism, though sometimes different, is very, VERY similar around the world. Africans or those of African descent have it the worst. When you cross the border into China, you don't stand behind people who look African or Indian; they will inevitably take longer to get through. This is not a phenomenon that I have discovered: I was standing in line last Friday striking up a conversation with a German businessman who said exactly that - and then followed this up with the statement that it is more of an acknowledgment of the reality of Chinese racism and acting in a way that benefits you the most - unfortunately in alignment with furthering that racism. In Costa Rica, it is a similar story. A popular myth (so popular that many people believe it - I met a few who did) was that there was a law until 1950 which prohibited people of African descent from emigrating to the Central Valley. Though this law never existed, until 1950 they were not given citizenship in Costa Rica and prohibitions for working in various companies and sectors (namely the United Fruit Company) caused the province of Limón to remain relatively distinct in racial makeup. People associate all sorts of negative stereotypes with this province (it's dirty, dangerous, there are lots of drugs, etc.), oftentimes pointing to the high population of people of African descent. It is really difficult to see, but also definitely shedding some light on how racism trends around the world.