Homesick

Several people have asked me, in lieu of the upcoming Olympics, if I'm missing China and getting "homesick" at all. And most definitely the answer is a resounding, "YES"!

I've been super nostalgic this week -- looking through old pictures and videos of my two years there in Beijing.

And I thought I'd list just a few of the things that I'm missing (not in any particular order):

• Uygher food (pronouced Wee-gur) -- Seriously. This stuff is from a Muslim minority group and it's amazing. Lots of lamb. Lots of tomato. Lots of fried bread. So good. I'd kill for some.
• Chinglish -- Every outing was an adventure as we laughed like crazy at the mistranslated signs that were around the city.
• The McDonald's woman -- Her job was to clear the tables and take out the trash from the local McD's. And she was a lovely woman who lit up when we would walk in. Always made sure that we had a place to sit, even if that meant making other people move.
  
• STUDENTS!! -- I miss 'em all and everything about them. Office hours. Coffee visits. Chick-flick nights. Precious text messages.
  
• Teaching my English majors in Building 2 -- wooden stools, small desks, chalkboard and LOTS of dust, extreme temperatures.
  
• Bargain shopping -- Nothing says China more than bartering for anything.
• World's best kettle-korn -- Sold by the popcorn man by the vegetable market for 3 kuai a bag (that would be about $.40 for a grocery sack full). A great afternoon snack.
  
• Carrefour -- (an underground grocery store) hated it while I was there, but now, I remember it fondly :)
  
• The fuwuyuans -- Wish I could've talked to them more as they cleaned my apartment every day. Especially "Smiley FuWuYuan". She was precious.
• My team -- Ethan, Andy, Mike, Lisa and Jess, Sarah, Janna, Nate, and Diane
  
• Giving the English name "Gus" to all taxi cab drivers who wanted one. I hope that we make some foreigner laugh while they are there these coming weeks!
  
• Locking my purple bike with 15 other foreign teacher's bikes -- what an ordeal!
• Chinese people -- 'nuff said

I dunno. I just miss so much about it. I'm glad to be back in the States ... but this week ... I wish I was still there.