I left home on the 22nd of August. Today is the first day that I have reliable internet access.
More and more, I think that we've begun to see the world as very small. With the internet, we are able to keep in touch with friends across the globe in real time. We know and are able to see what is happening in distant countries as it is happening. Let me tell you...the world is not really all that small physically. I left Edmonton on the morning of the 22nd and took a flight to Vancouver. A few hours later, I was on a 9 hour flight to Tokyo. After a 14 hour overnight layover, it was on to a three hour flight into China. And then, a 5 hour bus trip to my new home. Not including layover time, that's a total of 18 hours. Not a small world after all, if you ask me.
Since then, it's been an incredible rollercoaster. Moment to moment, I have no idea whether I've been happy to be here or not. There are moments when I'm incredibly grateful to be experiencing this. Professionally, I'm in the best position of my life. I am in charge of setting up and running a library from the ground up, complete with a staff of three volunteers; I am gaining experience that would take years to reach otherwise. I live in a beautiful 1600 foot apartment with a study and a large kitchen, and it's costing me the ridiculously low price of $300. I've already picked up a few Chinese words (granted they involve shopping and the one that rolls of my lips most easily is "that costs too much" - gotta love the bargain system) and am learning more all the time. And I live in a remote, development area of a city which allows me to mix with the locals in a way I would likely never get to in a more cosmopolitan area. The local village comes alive at night and it is truly a gift to be able to wander through
On the other hand, I think I might be a cosmopolitan kind of girl. I like the bustle of the city. I like the diversions - restaurants, movies, the bustle - that it offers. I live in an area where the water and occassionally the electricity go off as regularly as, I'm told, they often did 30 years ago in China. I have buckets of water in my kitchen stockpiled; even when the water does flow, I can't seem to get my laundry washer to hook up properly. I more or less live on a construction site which ensures that even though I sweep every night, there is a visible layer of dust on my floor every morning in which I can track my footprints. And this area is fairly remote. I'm an hour ride from the centre of the city. The village is incredible. But I'm a city girl and I'm not sure how long I will be able to entertain myself with the women dancing in the square. Am I callous and colonial for saying that?
However, these things will end. The area will be built up and will begin to run efficiently. More than these things though, which are temporary and frustrating but ultimately manageable, I feel isolated. Hopefully, internet access will change this, but I miss my friends from home, and I miss the comfortable bubble of likemindedness that library school provided. I like to think that this too will change. But, to be honest, at this moment, I'm homesick and I don't like China all that much.
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