The Color Run

After a month of contacting different friends, I finally convinced one, a Russian named Stazia, to join me for Shenyang's Color Run in early July. We took the high-speed train early in the morning and found ourselves part of the thousands congregating to a park in southern Shenyang.

 

 

 

All pristine white--ready to get dirty!

 

 

Stazia and I at the starting line

 

 

 

 

Interspersed throughout the 5k course are "color stations" where we all get together to throw color in each other's faces and roll around the street in the name of fun. 

 

Blue color station

 

Orange color station

 

 

Yellow color station

 

 

Pink color station (our favorite!)

 

 

Slowly camouflaging myself

 

 

 

 

The course was designed around a large lake. From the street I could see people running through water coming from gigantic fountain heads. After our pink foray, Stazia and I went down to cool off.

 

 

Taking a yoga break before going back to the pink station

 

 

Pink eye

 

 

A group of guys blasted me in the eye with a packet of pink powder! Stazia gasped and they threw powder right in her face, too. As we each doubled over trying to get the powder out of our eyes and mouths, the guys asked us repeatedly, "Can we take a picture with you?.....No problem, right?....So, can we take a picture together?"

 

Finish Line

 

 

Stazia, who got blasted every 10 meters thanks to her height, finally found someone taller than her. He was so sweet, too, requesting a picture.

 

Starting the New Year with a New Business

Most of you know by now that I am in the U.S. visiting family and friends. What many of you don't know is how I'm really spending my time.

I have projects galore!

While in Oklahoma visiting my mom and siblings for Thanksgiving I completed my profile on Elance and began working as a freelance writer, editor, and researcher. 

I visited Dr. Robert Davis Con-Undiano at the University of Oklahoma, who gave me a lot of information on my research topic of how Americans view Mo Yan, Nobel prize winner for literature in 2012. 

I met with another professor at Oklahoma Central University and ended up being invited to present at the Asian Center for Development Program's (ACDP) national conference in Houston this coming March.

I decided to make a quilt top while in Oklahoma and two days later I was finished.

I then took a 16+ hour Greyhound bus ride to Holbrook from OKC. I met a man who had been shot eight times in his life, twice in the head. I even felt where the bullet is still lodged in his forehead. There was also a German-speaking, elderly Amish couple on board, and a girl who drank a 2-liter soda in three hours. The Greyhound truly impressed me as very American, to say the least.

I wrapped a suitcase full of presents and got more excited than the kids when it came time to open them. Fortunately, all the clothes fit, albeit some just barely ;) 

I got food poisoning.

I signed up for a 10k. I train at home and around town when I'm not helping my dad with food storage and feeding chickens.

So now I am gathering my research materials, getting in contact with more professors, writing articles for various blog posts, and I've started preparing presentations on China for my younger siblings' classes. 

But the thing that I just have to share with everyone is my new business--selling t-shirts! It's been my goal for a long time to sell shirts with my original designs. Since I'm starting small, right now I only have one design and 10 shirts. I have until March 16 before I head back to China and I'd love to get them all sold before then. For now, expect to see a lot of posts on Facebook and other outlets about these shirts. If you're interested in making a purchase, feel free to contact me through my Facebook page or my Etsy shop.

 

 

What do you think? Do you know someone who would like an English-Chinese character mix that combines American humor with Chinese aesthetics? If so, pass it on or leave a comment.

Happy New Year!

Fortunately

Sometimes things just don't go your way. Sometimes it's not just a one day thing. But whether it's by the minute or by the year, things always turn around. Inspired by one of my favorite books growing up, Fortunately by Remy Charlip, here is what's been happening with me since we last met.

Unfortunately, someone was not very nice to me.

Fortunately, I found a new place to exercise. I had to pay a little money, but now everything I want to do is all in one spot not too far from home. I go five or six times a week for an hour or more each time. I figure with every workout I burn at least 500 calories. In the last three weeks, I've lost almost three kilograms, about five pounds. My goal is to lose six more kilos before I go home in November. Six more weeks!

Unfortunately my neck and shoulder are on the fritz again. 

Fortunately the doctor is still seeing me. Adding stretches and yoga is helping. Also, I've learned that it might be a symptom of gallbladder issues, which may seem like an "unfortunate," but I'm actually happy to know the connection. As I've experimented with some suggestions on what to eat, I believe I'm feeling a difference. The biggest help so far? Fresh ginger juice! Mmm, spicy!

Unfortunately, I didn't do my yearly tradition of buying a nice, fancy box of mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival. 

Fortunately, for once I was given a box of fancy-shmancy mooncakes! Giving and receiving the tasty treats is typically done in Chinese society. I look at the fact that I received some as achieving some sort of clout among my local friends.

Unfortunately, tutoring has been canceled a lot lately, which means my funds are considerably lower than I would like.

Fortunately, this has given me the time I needed to do more in-depth research for my thesis. I'm feeling good about the direction it's heading. 

Unfortunately, it took DA3 two months to get his new passport.

Fortunately, with its arrival we could get his U.S. visa application started! Wish him luck for his interview!

Unfortunately, due to a dumb mistake on my part, I'm unable to listen in on a particular writing class for Chinese.

Fortunately, I have been writing anyway. Just this week I started writing a short story in Chinese. Hopefully that can get finished in the next 10 years. I'm only slightly joking. There's no deadline and I am notoriously inept at keeping my own. However, I had a breakthrough while brainstorming for it and the more I write, the more excited the story makes me. On a side note, I usually read and write while riding the bus, and although I ride the bus often enough, it is still a contributing factor to why this might take a while to get finished. 

Unfortunately, in the last couple of weeks I had a few bad days. I lost some sleep and felt bodily pain. 

Fortunately, things are looking up. Why, at this very moment I am making whole wheat, tuna-olive bread. Later, I'm making Borsch. Life is fine.

What do you think? After reading my list, do you think it might all be connected somehow? Also, did you run into some bad luck this week? How have you seen it start to turn around?  

Passing Scenes

Walking home one day, I pass the same woman I passed the day before on the exact same route, the exact same sidewalk. Only, I never see her face. The whole of her head, including her eyes is covered with a black jacket. She looks like the headless horseman without her mount.

As long as I leave the house I am guaranteed to pass by hundreds of faces a day. I see students, studious boys and girls who use the time walking to class or back to their dorm for socializing. I pass the elderly, perched on minuscule stools playing card games and chess under shady trees. Grandpas and their young charges walk from home to school and back. At night, husbands take their pregnant wives and cherished puppies out for after-dinner strolls. I can walk the same street at the same time every day, passing up to a hundred people, yet only spot maybe a couple that I have seen before. Some days I find myself at an intersection where each crosswalk has at least twenty people waiting at any given moment, and I wonder, "After three years here, how many different faces have I passed?"

All these foreheads, noses, and bodies usually coalesce into one body, one hair color, one word: Chinese. I don't think anything of it, except when something sticks out as particularly Chinese or especially Other. That's why today as I leave the dorm there's only one thing on my mind. Jog. 

I've already done some yoga this morning, a pumped-up version in preparation for running. Despite the yoga, I'm off to a choppy start. But I'm in no hurry. I've given myself an hour, set by my own body's clock. I head to the park with the hope to gather some energy from nature. I start out slowly, just focusing on getting a rhythm and regular breathing pattern. Oh, look at those trees. That's a nice distraction, I think, and continue with that train of thought for a whole stretch. Black squirrel I've never seen before! Wow, the things you notice when you just open up. I start to look deeper into the woods and higher up into the sky. My breath is regular and I'm coming up to a downhill stretch. Energies are flowing.

I'm not alone, as is always the case when one is outside in China. People doing lunch-break exercises walk in my direction. We pass and continue on our ways. I'm not people watching on this run, which is why I don't know what kind of person said it, except that he was an older man pushing a wheelchair. As he passed me he deliberately shouted, "Xiao chi dian!"

TRY EATING LESS! His loud, public words--that I understand--punch me in my chest. My breath catches. My face flushes. Tears pool in my eyes. Miraculously, I'm still jogging. I keep going, but his words, biting, stinging, sonant thoughts, keep up with me. Reason tells me to use them to push myself harder. "Overcome them!" she presses. Anger is digging around for his boxing gloves. Humiliation urges me to find a small tree in a deep clearing and cry. Ignorance wants to believe it didn't happen, that we didn't hear it right. Compassion, that mother of all those riled up emotions, lovingly listens to each cry. As she does, she gives strength to my lungs and my legs. I do keep running, still clocking in four kilometers.

A part of me still wants to shout back at him, something like, "Cut it down to one pack a day, why don't you!" But just as he knows nothing about my diet or habits, I know nothing about his. As tough as it was today to get outside and run in the first place, that man put a spotlight on the obstacle that's constantly in front of me: my own mind. It was with a lot of self-control that I did allow myself to cry, but that I also made myself continue to run. There's no other way around it. I had to let it pass.

Run in the Park

This morning I take a jog in the local Nanhu Park (South Lake Park). Parks in the China are not only places of fresh air and beautiful scenery, but are also where the whole community gathers at any given time to practice hobbies and to play. At all times of the day (and today being Sunday there are even more), throngs of people come to Nanhu to sing, dance, "camp," take pictures, have picnics, play their instruments, practice Taiji (Tai chi), walk, run, exercise, and hang out with friends. This morning is no exception. I particulary enjoy the choir, the videos of which I'll post on the Facebook page for the blog.

 

 

 

 

The clarinet, my old friend, and its ol' man.

 

 

Trombone and tripod. Get ready to jam!

 

 

Harmony ensues

 

 

Love me some alto sax!

 

 

Now the ensemble comes together, but wait--Where's Mr. Guitar?

 

 

Meanwhile, I continue my run. No sooner do I get off the paved path, then I come across a group of Lao TaiTai's doing Taiji in a grove of trees. I don't want to bother them too much, but I do manage to snap a couple of pictures. Then I'm off again through the trees myself.

 

 

 

 

 

I continue my run around the lake itself. I don't stop for pictures, because, well, I've got a great stride going. The sun bounces off the lake like a ping pong ball. Mothers make their sons pose for pictures next to the lake. Old men sit on stools flying kites so high they try to play with the clouds. Pink lotus shade themselves under cattails. My heart races, and not just because of the run.  



坚持就是胜利

我已经通过我从来没想到我本人能够得到的目的。我原来的体重一百二十二公斤。不过，从2010年末我开始减肥。首先，我几乎放弃吃所有的肉和动物品。其实，我后来决定不要完全放弃，可是我减少了很多。大约一年后，我已经瘦了三十公斤左右。那时2011年。从那时候我的进度减慢，非常慢！我不是特别不满意，因为我还是经过别的进步，比如说：我现在能够跑五公里、我在斯里兰卡的时候尝试冲浪（surfing）、我的衣服都越来越大、甚至我的手表也每一次穿差点儿掉下去了。因此，这件事引起我想＂进步＂到底是什么意思？我磅体重时，应该注意具体的数字吗？如果这个星期降下，下个星期又升上，哪能我的心情也不断跑过来跑过去嘛，那么健康是否从精神开始呢？我怎么这么粗心？我在这么糊涂时，我记住应该放眼，看一看很远的，理想的，看起来不可能的效果。你会不会想象？我这个星期想不出来，所以我在网络索搜跟我一样体重美女的照片。我发现我上轨道，不太落后，没有什么大不了了。唉！我又放松了，恨不得马上上跑步机，锻炼身体。

First Spring Run

After the first International Student's Association had its first meeting today, I went outside for a walk, intending to end up in the cafeteria for dinner. My walk took me past the track and field. Last week's weather had me looking at it for days, wondering if it was still too icy to run. I decided to go check it out. 

I should begin by saying that I've been running indoors on a treadmill for the last six months or so. That's why at first I just thought I'd walk a couple of laps and get on my way. By my third lap, however, I just wanted to jog, winter gear and all. After that lap, I couldn't get enough, so I shed the coat and my purse on a bench and kept going. I thought I'd just go two kilometers, but even after that, my body wanted more. I began to sprint. I sped right past the drifts of snow, piled as tall as I am on the edges of the field. I jumped over the few icy patches. My hot breath hung in the air, and I could feel its moisture against my face a split second later as I ran through the vapor cloud. Under the stars I finished my exercise at ten laps.

Just think what spring will bring!