Relieving my brain constipation :P

We arrived safely in Hangzhou after a 21-hour train ride, and left almost immediately for a night in the countryside.

The countryside reminded me an awful lot of Taiwan 15 years ago, back when I moved to the outskirts of Hsinchu. :) I took a lot of pictures to show and tell for later (whenever, if ever, our people plan to reunite our rooms with Internet access). This forced hiatus has been good for me, though - it was about time I dented my Internet addiction, anyway. ;)

I'm a little too busy living life to tell about it in much detail.... maybe if I ever got some time to catch up? I'm seriously looking forward to my time in Taiwan now, because if nothing else, it symbolizes a break I haven't had in a very long time.

I guess the emotions I tried to leave behind in the States finally caught up to me on the bus ride back from the countryside, but I'm in severe UT withdrawal. I am really, really going to miss being - and belonging on - that campus. I miss calling and chilling with Hena the most, I think, and Jenn and Lauren. I miss Rockbanding with Oliver and Sam and the guys. I miss hanging out with Timbo and the Century guys. I miss hugs from Auntie Susan and Oriana and Helen and Jessica Sun and Vox people. I miss calling Olivia, and commiserating with Megan over BV shifts. I miss my car and the freedom it represents. I miss my apartment so much it hurts (because it means alone time and an escape from the rest of the noisy world). I miss Xanga. ;p I kinda miss my family, even... and I haven't even lived at home in years. Don't get me wrong - none of these feelings hold me back from anything - they've just been cropping up more and more in my mind. I think it's been a while since I had any sort of stability in my life and I miss that most of all. :P

I'm pretty ambivalent toward Wired, still, but since it's already 6/15 and I have yet to hear back (the internship starts on 6/30), I'm beginning to think that I didn't get it. While it hurts my pride a teensy bit, I think I'm actually pretty relieved. (Of course, life being what it is, I bet I'm gonna hear something next week, and then be scrambling to wrap my mind around everything that needs to get done. But maybe I shouldn't flatter myself. ;p) I could use some downtime in the fall. I've got UNITY toward the latter half of July, a few weddings to shoot throughout the fall, and you know, people to catch up with. Mom wants to go to Szechuan this fall to help out in the earthquake area, and I think I'd love to go if I'm free (i.e. no work to be done).

I'm a little messy in my mind (haha) because I'm missing 3 very important things in Austin:
1) My black Moleskine planner (has my address in the front)
2) My green iPod nano (has a translucent green cover on it, as well as regrettable tunes ON it)
3) My furry hoodie (Hollister, size L, medium gray, lined with cream fur inside, front zipper)

I think I misplaced 'em, 'cuz I didn't find them anywhere when I moved out. If anyone happens to find them somewhere, I'll probably cry in your arms. At the very least, I will buy you dinner. :P All else can be replaced, actually, but that planner has my life in it, pretty much. I can't buy a ticket for Chicago until I find it. ;p

Speaking of which, I'll be in Chicago - when, I'm not sure yet - but I definitely have to be there from the 23rd to the 27th. So I've been thinking of going the Friday before (7/18) and returning home the Monday after (7/28?). Anyone want to meet up while there? (Heather?) Special thanks to Will and Ken for letting me crash there. <3 You guys are a poor college graduate's lifesavers. :)

After that, I don't know. It all depends a bit on Wired. =]

Life's been good here. I'm pretty overwhelmed with all the questions and answers I'm fielding. I'm barely even keeping up with life, so I feel like a really bad journalist. I talk to people, but I'm doing it so much I can't even hide away for some time to write. There's not a moment of privacy or silence... or when there is, I need it for sleep. :P I've taken to reading things just to give my mind a break from... well, being a Taiwanese-American college student visiting China for the first time with a bunch of English-speaking classmates who ask her to translate in her bad Chinese and who is still trying to figure out her own identity. :P Haha, talk about emo. But yeah, all that confusion at least helped me figure out a story topic - the search for identity in China... are you guys ready for a book? XD

I just hope and pray that I can do this trip justice and portray it (eventually) in such a way that gives a good perspective on what's going on - at least through my eyes.