Thinking of home?!

Weekend Edition

Day Eleven. Thinking of home?!

Today wasn't as eventful as yesterday. It was somewhat more of a laid-back Sunday, which i needed...now i'll give you the regular three chances to escape this wad of boringness.

Now,

Now, and

NOW.

Okay, so you can't blame me. ^^ Trust me, this will make you fall asleep a lot faster than yesterday's post would.

...so today i got to 'sleep-in' again, until nine. I had breakfast and then got ready to go to TaiHu, a famous lake in Suzhou that was its source for a lot of things and lifestyles.

Once the dad was ready, me, Katie, and him left for TaiHu. (the mom had work to do.)

it was about an hour's drive to a smaller, isolated village that seemed much more primative than where i had been staying. We stopped and came out of the car, in front of a fancy but empty hotel, right in front of the lake where we had a great view of everything, that is, until the sun made us squint. At least me. i forgot my sunglasses.

after a few pictures, the dad offered me some jerky, which i took happily.

The jerky reminded me of Josh (my little brother) because whenever we went on walks or bike rides, he'd take some snacks, most often he'd take some jerky. And of course, because he's so nice he'd share some with everyone.

Then after that, we went back into the dad's car and took us to a small restaurant, where it was quiet, almost empty, and somewhat dirty.

This reminded me of my dad, because he always knew the best places to go and never let the battered condition of places bother him. Dad never judged much by looks.

Inside, the dad kept speaking English to me, which made me kind of annoyed because he said it so loudly. It was like he wanted everyone around me to know I was a foreigner! It wasn't like i couldn't understand any chinese. But eventually the owner of the restaurant asked, "Is she a foreigner?"

"Yes," the dad said. "from america."

And there was some murmuring, and the man exclaimed, "but she's chinese! She's from AMERICA?!"

Not like i wasn't used to hearing that a lot. it made me remember what happened yesterday.

What Happened Yesterday

Actors: Alex, Clare, (homestay) mom, Employee

Scene: In a busy mall, Alex is trying on a white jacket in front of the mirror. Clare is standing by and looking around, mom is watching Alex, Employee is standing by.

Red is for chinese. Blue is for English.

Alex: *turns around in front of the mirror* Clare, how does this look?

Clare: *nods* It's cute. I like it.

Employee: Hmm? Why are you speaking so much English?

mom: *laughs* They're both from America.

Employee: Huh?! Well why is she Chinese?? She can't be. i was wondering why she was speaking such fluent English! *leans in and stares awhile at Alex*

Alex: *squirms uncomfortably, isn't sure what to do*

mom: (to Employee) *laughs again* Stop staring! it's rude!

And that is what happened.

Anyway, I sat down and we waited for a little bit while i played Tetris on Katie's cell phone, and after that the food came. it was REALLY good! Except the strange fish, i liked the other two dishes: eggs with silver fish (little ones, like anchovies but much tastier) and this vegetable that I had never had.

Predictably, this reminded me of my mom. I missed her good cooking and laughter and all the fun jokes we have. And even the food, which I knew she could make better if she knew the recipe.

Halfway through the meal, the dad left to do some grocery shopping, and here all the vegetables were farm-fresh and sold by the farmers themselves.

This makes me think of Grandma, who, despite her old age and physical hardships, sometimes went shopping for food that she knew we all liked and would happily snarf down.

After I moved on to my second bowl of rice, a German Shepherd, skinny and desperate-looking, passed by, but not before staring at us longingly.

This made me think of Julia, and her love of dogs, specifically German Shepherds. If she were there she would have made a comment on how bad she felt for the dog, and how she wished she could feed it (and possibly she'd walk over and feed it something). Caring much!

Once I had finished, i leaned back in my chair and waited for the dad to finish up the fish. meanwhile there was a grandpa, holding a baby girl, who was crying. The grandpa yelled at the girl and spanked her several times to get her to stop crying. (how's that for getting a baby to stop screaming?) Naturally she stopped. Just kidding, she cried louder.

Rachel, definitely. Rachel would know how to make the baby girl stop crying instantly, just by holding her the perfect way that she knew how. the baby needed Rachel!!

*sigggh* just writing all this makes me tear up. Oh gosh, now everything is blurry. I'm serious. UGH! Um, hang on.

Okay, i'm back...

...anyway. I was and still am thinking of home. Not that i want to go back and face tests and homework, but really it's just the people i miss, that could be sharing all this fun i'm having and make it even more fun.

Well, other than that, we just drove around and rode our bikes for less than a few minutes. and now i'm back at home, writing an early post just because there's nothing else to do and no one free enough to talk to.

*sigh* I'll get over the homesickness tomorrow, don't worry.

and really, i DO appreciate everyone's comments and emails to me. It makes me feel better and closer to home. I wish I could give you all hugs right now!

Well, don't say i didn't warn you. I told you this wasn't going to be good.

with that said, shoot me an email sometime. =)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

~~~Reporter...*sniff*

Just Alex. Alex, okay? At least until tomorrow.