Blood, sweat and tea

It feels good to be back. Yes, I miss home. But I'm surprised by how much Shanghai is starting to feel like a second home. I missed coming into work and seeing friends and even some of the food here (wow, that's something I never expected!).

Another reason it's good to be back is that I've been meeting new people, doing fun things and traveling a bit too lately. My return to China started with a very fun ladies-only run called the Posh Hash. I met some wonderful women that night. It's really interesting hearing all the varied reasons why people are here - almost all for interesting careers. I've met lots of architects and real estate developers (probably one of the few places in the world where building continues to happen regularly), many consultants, people launching cool new technology products, folks from the auto industry and retailers too. And everyone has a story. There are also a lot of seemingly career-assignees. That's fascinating to me too. As glamorous as it sounds that they've lived in multiple countries, I can now appreciate how hard that is too. I'm not sure I could be a lifer, but the experiences they've had seem amazing. I also think that because Shanghai is so expat-heavy that I've been able to meet a lot of friends quickly here. It's scary being thrown into a situation halfway across the world and not really knowing anyone, but expats here are so welcoming and receptive to meeting new people. They've likely experienced the same fears and frustrations too. That's definitely something I love about Shanghai.

I also made my first trip to a "fake market" when I got back. Hilarious. There are stalls for as far as the eye can see, all selling versions of expensive bags, watches, clothing and shoes at a fraction of the cost. The market I went to is actually inside of a Metro stop, so that's an adventure all on it's own. Here's a convenience store inside of the market ... hmm:

My American co-workers Erika and Jayson were also on the adventure with me. The experience was unreal - at one purse store, it looks like a small storefront, but when you say you want to see nicer quality items, a shelf literally opens up to reveal a hidden room. You walk in there and they quickly shut it behind you so as not to get caught. There's one more layer beyond that of even nicer items too, so you're in this maze of a back-store area. All to protect their very-real-looking fakes that they aren't supposed to be producing. I didn't end up making any purchases, but just to experience it was pretty wild. Here's a few other items we found that we also didn't purchase. Unbelievably, we saw a lady wearing a pair literally 10 minutes after snapping these pics:

The other highlight of my first week back was a trip to Changsha. The city is southwest of Shanghai, and is the capital of the Hunan province. We went to visit some pharmacies there. There are conflicting reports online, but some sources say it has up to 7 MILLION people living there (which, according to the US Census from 2010 is roughly the same size as NYC). Shockingly, I had never heard of it. I find that's true of a lot of huge cities in China. Really?!

First, it was hotter than Hades. Second, they have awesome food! The Hunan style is pretty spicy, but I really enjoyed the two meals we ate there. It's also quite pretty - rivers and hills around the city. Here's a shot I snapped in front of a pharmacy:

Some of the pharmacies we visited carry Traditional Chinese Medicine. Apparently this is good to "take" if you've just had surgery:



You may also be happy to see that though there are incredibly few celebrities in China, Yao Ming is still racking up the endorsements:

And speaking of surgery, they're pretty affordable in Changsha! Here's a posting of the prices for different medical services. I was told that one of these lines (potentially not on the pic I posted) says "kidney removal" and the cost was less than $300USD. Cheap!

Being in China has been a lot of fun, frustration, unease, excitement and every other emotion you can think of. In a meeting last week, one of my teammates commented that a project was a lot of "blood, sweat and tea". I assume that's one of those lost-in-translation things, but I had to laugh. How appropriate. But reflecting back, and especially with my newer, fresher lens since returning home, it's definitely been worth the blood, sweat and tea.

Homecoming

I've now been in the US for a few weeks. It has been oh-so-great! I've loved catching up with friends, family and co-workers. And yes, I came home to not only the Chipotle burrito I was craving so badly, but even a lovely bouquet of flowers from Sean:

I'm a lucky lady indeed! My time here got off to a great start by celebrating the Fourth of July. Columbus is home to a great fireworks show - Red, White & Boom. We headed to a cookout with friends to have a drink (or two) and burger (or two) to party for America. It was also Sara's birthday! Despite the 95+ degree heat, we survived and had a super fun night. We took in the fireworks from Goodale Park:

The celebrations for Sara's birthday continued a few days later, and it made for an awesome way for me to reconnect with lots of girlfriends. Unfortunately, the picture I posted below doesn't include the amazing sombrero the staff made her wear throughout dinner!

I was surprised how many times I ate Asian food while I was home. Is that strange? We tried a great restaurant called Lemongrass in the Short North. Not only did I find my new source of Thai food when I'm back in Ohio, but they even had Singha!

I've found it very hard to answer people's questions about China. Don't get me wrong - I love that people care, and I'm happy to engage in dialogue about my experiences. Actually, talking about it more gets me excited about going back! But it's tough to have a succinct and thoughtful answer to some of what I'm asked. Do I love it? Would I stay longer if given the chance? What am I most enjoying? What's been the biggest cultural adjustment? What's the craziest thing I've seen (and yes, I do actually have to think this through since there have been a few things I could answer with!)? And, my personal favorite/worst nightmare, can you say something in Mandarin? I should feel more comfortable with speaking in Mandarin, but (a) I'm out of practice since I haven't been great about studying lately and (b) I'm not positive that I can create full sentences! The worst, however, is when someone says, "can you say fill in the blank in Mandarin?" ... here's the deal people - likely I have NO idea how to say fill in the blank! But I'll keep chugging and plugging away at my studies when I go back to China so maybe I can properly say something on command when I come home the next time!

I am so blessed that so many people are excited to talk to me about China. Seeing their excitement and interest in what I've got going on makes me appreciate the experience that much more. Sometimes I take for granted how cool it is that I'm temporarily living abroad. I forget that I'm having experiences I didn't even dream of a year ago. I forget how much I'm enjoying learning about a totally new culture and healthcare system. I forget that this assignment is pretty legit. So thank you to all my friends here in Ohio - you reinvigorated me to go back with a sense of excitement and appreciation.

A great part of my time at home was seeing so many work friends at a major conference we host each year. I spent a week of my time in the US at this show in Florida. I enjoyed working side-by-side with my US team again, and seeing lots of friendly faces I hadn't seen since last year's show. Here are a few pics from our event (and yes, we are in an extended-cab golf cart in one):

I'm headed to a send-off dinner with my girlfriends tonight. I can't wait. It does feel odd saying goodbye and realizing I'm going to be gone for a few more months. But it's so comforting knowing what I'm getting into, and in fact, even feeling like I'm going back to a second home. China, lookout - I'll be back in your neck of the woods soon!