October 20, 2006

I bought a bike today. It is a nice one. Cheap too. I bought it without a translator, that was different. I don’t know enough Chinese to eat or to find a restroom, but I can point. And xie-xie is a good phrase to know. I can also tell the taxi driver “fagua jia” (french street), which will get me to the diner. But I am not going to need that anymore.

But back to the bike, it is pretty. It is a lot like the bikes I rode at OOR over the summer two summers ago. So far people either think I am rich to drop almost 800 on a bike for 8 more days, or that I am going to end up staying here. I, myself, am not even sure. Since I have a plane ticket back already, I think I am going to end up giving the bike to the diner. The owners have to provide housing for the employees, and the boys house is about a half an hour walk away from the diner. So they really could use the bike after I have had my fun.

Now about my subject (if it the there), does generosity breed generosity? And am I really being generous? The money for the bike was given to me, so giving it away isn’t really costing me anything besides money that was never really mine. I could say that the bike came out of the money I paid myself for the trip. But once all my loving friends, family, and others gave me the money for the trip, it became mine. I could have spend the money that, say, my dad gave me and then thrown in the same amount of money I worked for. But that really isn’t the point here… I don’t know what the point is.

I guess what I am saying is that I could have used that 800 RMB to buy souvenirs, or saved it for the next trip I am going to go on, but I decided to use it to bless the people here…

What do you think, did I misuse funds entrusted to me? Or should I just buy it with my personal money as a really big souvenir? It is pretty nice…

PS. Or I could just stay here for a few more years…

October 19^th, 2006

I want emails, people. There is nothing like getting an email in the morning. So send me an email. 

So yesterday was a crazy day. We didn’t stay the whole time; we couldn’t stay the whole time. It has been so long since I have pulled kitchen hours. It wiped me out. I am such a wimp. Today was just “grace, grace” for us.  I feel like I did nothing. I am still tired though. I am such a wimp.

So I am sitting here in my bed typing this email into Word, listening to Showbread (Currently Listening: Age of Reptiles – Sing Me to Sleep), and going to go to bed soon. All while some of you early birds are getting up. Then the email goes off to you some time tomorrow. Kind of like a time capsule. 

I don’t miss home yet. Which is suprising to me. I am right at the longest I have been away from home, nine days. A Mexico trip is nine days long, an event is five days, my longest stint house sitting was seven days. I am not alone here, I have people that I know, I have new people. I miss my friends though, I am sad that I am not around, I am not in the loop. I don’t know what Stef’s day was like, or when Josh gets off work, or if Steven works tomorrow.  Tomorrow… 

Tomorrow is a new day,
     and I am in China.

I will be here tomorrow, I will give my all. To be more than a flashbang. More than just a loud noise and a bright flash. I am going to leave pieces of myself all over this lovely country. 

-Andrew!

PS. Send me emails at rtalavara7@yahoo.com while I am on this trip.

October 17, 2006

Like I was bit by a tiny vampire. But all it shows is that I am perfectly health. I am sitting here in the lobby of the extended stay hotel, listening to some sad love song in Chinese; smelling cigarette smoke. It is quite a bit different than back home. (Luke says hi, by the way).

But back to the holes, the first time was before I left and let my stepmom stick a needle in my arm and draw my blood. And the second time was here in China. Since we came here to help work in a diner, we need to get health cards. Everyone here who works in a place that deals with food needs to get one, to make sure that they don’t have any serious diseases. Kind of an interesting thought.

But I am healthy, and I passed. And when I get home I will finally find out what blood type I have.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Tomorrow is the day that the diner opens. But also the first day that they are going to be open for lunch to the public. And it is the day that 70 some odd lunches need to be made for a school. It is just going to be one long day. I will write another email when it is all over. Good night.

October 14^th 2006

No, not in that way. I picked up some pictures from Kodak store about three blocks away. maybe more. Probably more, it was a 45 minute round trip. Anyway the distance isn’t that impressive unless you know that I did it alone. Yep. It was awesome. Suprisingly you feel pretty safe here, the only scary thing is dodging cars. And anyway the cute girl who checked me out last time we were at the Kodak store was there when I picked up the pictures. It was a short conversation. 

So on Tuesday, we are going to the health department to get tested. I am going to know a lot about my health that I didn’t know before, with giving blood the week before and this.. All for cheap too.

So the money here is called Yi Yaun. That is pronounced UN. Like the United Nations. Kind of funny. And there are about 8 of them to a dollar. Oh, actually it has three names. The other to are Quy and RMB. That gets confusing. 

Well, we are still having lots of grace, and I have been taking pictures.

And tomorrow is a muesum.