这个两天

I finally have a kitty!!! Let the naming games begin. Sorry for the
poor picture quality, I just wanted to get something up! He has a grey
patch on the top of his head. So far i'm thinking about how to name
him something like the Chinese for 'toupee' or 'comb-over'

One week later

An update on my dabbles in Chinese medicine--the purple is all gone;
there's just a bit of yellow remaining. Shoulder definitely feels
different....Can't tell if it's better, but I can do a handstand
without pain if I'm careful....

Tuesday nights at 按摩 (massage)。

I usually go get a $3 massage every week with some of my other
American friends. This week I decided to tell our massage friends that
my shoulder has been hurting for the past year to see if they could
work on it. They suggested that I have the fire cups, and never one to
turn down an opportunity at new things, I decided to pay the extra
$1.5 and have it done. Thus far I'd been too freaked out by the
suction noises and pregnant purple bruises, but I sucked up my fear
and decided not to be 怕 (pa4, afraid). They insisted that it didn't
hurt, and so I found myself agreeing to become a voluntary victim of
the vampire jars. It really wasn't bad at all. The picture looks MUCH
worse than it actually is, mom. Remember those goldfish I had with
bulbous eyes? I think I understand what it feels like to be one of
them....it was nice, and almost comfortable. Plus it matches my
necklace!
They also say that it helps keep you from getting a cold, so here's
hoping that the sore throat I have will disappear in the morning!
Golly, I hope you get what I've written along with the picture!!!
Because heaven knows that it needs a good explanation!

Thoughts and reflections for today's homework

Here's a post that I just posted on my class' discussion board. Cindy is one of my classmates and Slimbach is Richard Slimbach, the author of 'World Wise: Global Learning for the Common Good,' a text that we are using in my course on culture.

Living in a foreign culture seems to have a knack for amplifying my shortcomings. My reactions here skate from 'host-culture bashing' to running with the 'natives' with a dizzying fickleness. There are only rare days when I can feel truly confident about how I have interacted with the people in my host country. Most days leave me wondering how I could have phrased things better or how I could have reacted more gracefully in a given situation.

Even when I try to have the best intentions in an interaction, I find myself questioning the validity of these intentions and wondering if the other person is baffled as to why I would have considered my intentions to be the most appropriate. When I try to see life from Chinese shoes, I find that even the method I use to tie those shoes is backward, and I stumble around with the right foot in the left shoe. There is always something that I could have done better. 

As I discussed this with my supervisor, she pointed out that we receive copious amounts of grace from the people here, and that most people understand that even if our intentions are skewed from time to time, they recognize that we come with the heart of a learner. I think that living cross-culturally presents many opportunities for guilt to take-hold in our hearts, but this is arguably just as destructive as entering a culture with the reckless and destructive ignorance that Slimbach is working so hard to combat in his book. Cindy, I'm glad you brought up Slimbach's words on retreating from the community because I think it pertains to this situation as well. It is tempting to go into solitude out of guilt for less than perfect cultural interactions, but it is only by honestly and transparently accepting our mistakes and embracing the grace of the community that the most transformative and freeing learning can take place.  

I recently had a wonderfully rich conversation with a Chinese professor from Sichuan University in Chengdu. When I asked him how I could better connect and learn from people here, he quickly answered that learning and using language is the best way to demonstrate respect for the people here and that language breaks down the wall that separates me the outsider from my hosts. When I use even a little bit of Sichuan dialect, it expresses that I am here to live alongside the local population.

Dawning of a new era

I think I'm going to get an adolescent kitty tomorrow. I'm taking name
suggestions. I think it will be white with some orange areas.
I'm sorry that my text didn't coincide with my last batches of
pictures...I have to post via email, so it might take some practice
and feedback to get the formating right.

More Hainan!

Here are some more pictures with some nice descriptions and little
stories.

Hainan-Ho! (海南）

I went on a solo adventure this past National Day/Mid-Autumn Festival
holiday to the beautiful island of Hainan. I'll tell you some stories
sometime, but for now i'll just give you a few pictures to wet your
appetite. These are pictures from a day hike that I went on with about
40 other local people--I was able to use mostly Chinese that day!! It
was real-neat. Let me share an excerpt with you from my journal:
Wow, this was a good idea to go on the day trek. It's so cool to be
with a group of Haikou 人[ren--people] they are so fiery, fun, and
certainly welcoming....I'm actually surprised and pleased that my
language skills have gotten me this far...it's a really neat thing to
be a part of this group--even if i am a wai guo mei mei (little
foreign sister). I've never been in such a Chinese community and it is
fun because i can see how much these people are just like people from
home and even possibly more friendly. we're a group of perfect
strangers and everyone is eating and sharing food together like it's
the last day of summer camp..
Now look at these

nice pictures: