No longer

For those of you who don't know, I had a chronic case of homesickness since we got back from Thailand (Thailand showed us a lot about what we were missing, which you really don't think about too much if there's no reminders) (Also, I was wearing clothes that I hadn't worn since summer past and it was hard to go back to more appropriate clothes for here). For those of you who did know, I want to tell you that it is gone. Sure, I'm still homesick. Sure, I wanna go home. But I am content to stay here for a little bit.

There's two reasons. Well, number one is that there aren't any holidays that need the special trappings and trimmings. I still dread another year of those. Number two is that lately I've had this feeling of being two places at once. If I'm not outside (outside spoils this idea) I have lately gotten the feeling that "If I go out of this room, I will end up in my real house." It's easiest to imagine our house with this place's bathroom, really. This is generally a very comforting thought, except on the sleeper bus where I was actually positive (and half-asleep) that this was I-5 and any minute now I'd be sleeping in the back of the car and hear the garage door. It was very difficult waking up in the middle of rice paddies, but being able to recognize this city's "landmark" (Qi Shan) really helped. On the mountains I feel at home because I know that any minute it's going to turn into Lincoln park, but it doesn't have to.

Number three, I guess, is that we are avidly counting the weeks and Saturday marks the "six more weeks of this place, four more of school" point. We will be in Hong Kong GW six weeks from Sunday and that will be treat enough. I think having an extended vacation anywhere will be refreshing. Kunming is actually not very western, but it is a big city and I come from the largest city in my state, which is also the county seat of its county and so a big city is refreshing (though if I'm not in the residential areas it gives me a big headache. But headaches or no I will take downtown Seattle if offered me). And it is a little bit western. No one really speaks English but there are a couple of foreigner haunts that don't seem too "community like". I mean, if you were to come here, go to a restaurant on your own and caught a glimpse of some foreigners you might actually get invited in. In Kunming if you're a foreigner you are just one of the crowd. A woman actually said "dwaybuchi" and then quickly translated to "sorry" once. The two foreigner haunts, however...well those are great. I would like to tell you more but I really can't.

Well, that's about it. Thanks for bearing with me. Auntie and I both have colds and neither of us seem too happy.
Saro