Jenny-fa

GREETINGS FROM TIANJIN, CHINA. I'm currently blogging from my laptop at a local Starbucks (or as the Chinese say, xīng bā kè) on Nanjing Road. As the post title suggests, I attempted to visit this blog earlier, only to be confronted by one of those ambiguous "server errors"… the "server is not responding," "the server connection was reset," blah blah blah. Well, I suspected something was afoot, and with the aid of iBypass, I confirmed it — my blog is a victim of the Great Firewall (though I doubt my URL was blocked specifically… more likely some other site on the Awardspace domain provoked the ire of some Chinese censor)!

So what am I doing here? Visiting my ailing grandfather, mainly. And while my dad is attending to his well-being, a Chinese friend of mine, Wang Zhengyuan (王正元), is showing me the sights of Tianjin. He brought me to all sorts of local museums, and took me to his university — the students in his English class were apparently excited to meet me. I even forget some of the things we did together. Anyway, he's taking me to another local university tomorrow. And on Monday, I'll be taking a train to Hangzhou.

I initially signed onto this trip a few weeks ago with the intention of merely accompanying my dad and shopping for cheap clothes. Due to my recent, intensified dislike of Asians, I resolved to bear the surfeit of Asian-ness as best as I could. However, unlike my last trip four years ago, I'm not constantly dragged around to tourist hives like the Great Wall and the Forbidden Palace. This time, the experience is a hundred times more authentic. Not only am I being guided by a real Tianjin native, but I also got the opportunity to speak with Chinese students my age, purchase whatever food I like, and walk the streets of a bustling metropolis without the dead weight of a digital camera around my neck.

At any rate, this trip has proven to be a true cultural exchange. It's a way of finding myself, in a way. Like my identity as an American. It's slightly disquieting to be constantly identified as "my American friend" by Zhengyuan or have others say "she's from America," "she's American," or "she's a foreigner." As I've never strongly identified as an American before, I've had to make some adjustments. Nonetheless, after my experiences here, I have to agree. I am an American. I'm not really anything else.

Well, I am a world citizen, too. But that's another story.

So, here's to the country that makes accessing my blog hugely inconvenient, and to the country whose portly inhabitants I love to hate. Good night, all. It's 9:22 in the evening, and I shall return to my apartment momentarily.

Until next time,
Jenny-fa, from Tianjin, China

P.S. I'm also keeping a mental tally of the all the obese people I've seen in China. After one week, it's now 15.

Sleep eight hours, wake up refreshed, cuddle Sasha, eat peanut butter toast at one's leisure, listen to the train pass every two hours, and watch Xena: Warrior Princess nonstop. Sounds like the ideal post-high school life, no? Except, I STILL HAVE TO FINISH THAT DRATTED PICTURE BOOK. BY TOMORROW. AND WE'RE LEAVING FOR CHINA ON SATURDAY, SO I HAVE TO PACK AND ALL THAT CRAP. It's not a good time to feel unusually mellow.

Oh, dear. My heart feels like it's stopped again. Cut it out.

And now there's a thunderstorm.

This Tuesday is the last day of school, and yet I still have to write my short story, complete those dratted outlines, and create a fucking picture book by cutting a whole lot of paper. I also need to finish a calculus project, but hopefully Jacky will take care of it. Ahem.

I told myself last Friday that I'd get a head start.

And, well… just look where that got me.

On the other hand, the season finale of Legend of the Seeker was… fantastic! And Bridget Regan, the actress who plays Kahlan Amnell, is indisputably beautiful.

However, Denna, the Mord-Sith introduced in the eighth episode, has got to be one of the coolest and sexiest characters on television.

Yes, the skin-tight leather and the torture are very… bondage-esque. But undeniably hot.

You have also got to see Denna's dungeon scene with Richard Cypher.

I must say… I do have quite the impeccable taste.

Yay Jacky! Yay Jacky! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Jacky! *claps hands in eager hamster fashion*

Hamster's can't clap, by the way.

Yay Jacky! Yay Jacky! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay I hope you like the Indian curry I made today! If you come, that is.

That's right, folks. I cooked a batch of tasty vegetable curry for me English class today.

Not a typo. The "me" is not a typo.

My finest creation yet.

Update: I am a curry goddess.

Ack, this video is… uh… well, it's only marginally less… disturbing than that one where he was getting a massage naked…

I was laughing so helplessly…

A true, international golden god. Hey, I feel like some watermelon.