From the Bei to the Bay.

What a year.

Seriously, what a year. Repatriating was not as difficult as I originally thought it was going to be. It doesn't mean it wasn't a little difficult. I miss my all my Beijing peeps, Ayi, and Great Leap so much. On the flipside, I am so happy to be able to cuddle my Mozzarella aand Pepperjack, have a pool 15 steps from my front door, and fresh jalapenos within driving distance.  I am also real glad to be back in my American kitchen... And I guess living on the same continent as my husband is okay.

Here are just a few things I started truly noticing since I made it back to fresh, free, American soil:

HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED HOW BLUE THE SKY IS?

 

I feel a little like a door to door religious proprietor here, BUT ACTUALLY GUYS, HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED HOW BEAUTIFUL AND BLUE THE SKY IS? My heart nearly exploded my first night home. I sat out on my deck and enjoyed the mostly-pollution-and-light pollution-free sunset. It was perfect and full of pinks and purples. I had not witnessedsuch incredibly clear skies in a long, long time (minus the trips to Indonesia and Australia of course). And now I get to see those gorgeous sunsets nearly every night. On top of that: stars. So. Many. Stars. Seeing stars used to be an inside joke in Beijing, now I see them almost every night and they still make me so happy.

Everything is so quiet. So. Damn. Quiet.

My family lives in the south, south bay. I hear the occasional train. Sometimes car horns, but in general, the majority of my night is full of frogs with no ability to STFU, crickets, and silence (and my fan, because I'd be lost without it). What is this wizardry?

I CAN READ FOOD LABELS!

Food in China is CHEAP and delicious. Emphasis here on the delicious. I probably (COUGHCOUGHDEFINITELYCOUGHCOUGH) spent way too much money on imported goods simply because I was far too lazy to learn a few characters to find the Chinese version. When I go back, I will change this.

I can talk to anyone!

This realization hit me the minute I stepped off the plane in San Jose. The airport attendants were removing my luggage from the luggage carousel and I wanted to ask a question, but I stopped myself. I vividly remember thinking, in that moment, that even if I asked, I probably wasn't going to get a response. You know, because they probably spoke Mandarin and I don't. Then I realized, THEY CAN UNDERSTAND ME! And that was the moment I knew I could talk to everyone again. I am almost a year into moving home and I still deeply regret not learning more Mandarin. I miss China every day, and listening to the locals talk is something I loved. So whenever I hear anyone in the Bay start speaking Mandarin, I become the biggest creeper and try to listen in to see if I recognize at least one word. No shame.

AND FINALLY,(AT LEAST FOR THE MOMENT):

Any toilet is a squat toilet, if you want it to be.

Actually, though. If Beijing taught me anything (and Beijing taught me lots of things) it is that any toilet is a squat toilet...if you want it to be. I am the master of public bathrooms now.

Thanks, China. For everything.