6 a.m. in China

It's 6 a.m. and I'm awake. I've been awake allllll night long. Sitting here for hours, waiting for sleep.

This evening--I went to a dinner with some American friends. I took a Tylenol Daytime Cold pill--I've been stuck with The Miserable Cold since Thursday--but Virginia's mom is in town, so I pulled myself together, popped some cold medication, painted on makeup to cover my stuffy red nose and went out.

At 8ish--on the way back to my apt, I must switch buses in front of the new Starbucks. Of course, I couldn't resist--while getting my Vanilla Latte, I ran into 2 friends from the earlier dinner. We sat and chatted over our coffee till it closed at 11.

At 12:17 a.m.--I talk with Tim for a little while on Skype.

At 2:30, lights out.

At 3:17, a car/motorbike alarm began going off. I remember this time b/c I thought it was my cell phone going off and checked it, noticing how late it was getting and wondering when I would fall asleep.

At 3:30, "Did I talk to mom about filing my taxes???" Obsession over how to declare income earned in China begins.

At 4:34, the birds began chirping. All at once--like an alarm went off. I haven't heard the roosters yet--and come to think of it--I haven't heard roosters in awhile. They were hard getting used to when we moved here last summer. Have I just gotten used to them, or are they gone?

At 4:52, I gave in and picked up my laptop--calling mom to ask about my taxes. We chat for 29 minutes and my obsessive worry about my US responsibilities lessens.

At 5:22, I begin calling random friends via Skype to see what they're up to. No one is available to talk.

At 5:30, one of the street sweepers began sweeping the alleyways that run along both sides of my building. They're at it all day, every day--sweeping up leaves and rubbish with brooms made of twigs. I've been fixated on these leaves for months now. The alleys leading to my building are lined with these trees that SEEM to be deciduous. They have your basic, flat, green, footballish-shaped leaves and the branches look like ones in a maple or pear tree or whatever...I mean, really, I know nothing about trees. BUT--I know which ones look like the ones that lose their leaves each fall, and which ones don't. And these trees look like the former. SO--around December or January of this year, I was walking home and suddenly looked up and realized--HEY! THOSE LEAVES ARE STILL GREEN AND ON THE BRANCHES! That's not right! What is the deal?? --I've been watchin these trees for months now, just waiting, wondering--WHEN ARE THEY GONNA FALL?????? It just seemed like these trees were going against the natural order of things. Yeah...it was unnatural.

This fixation becomes more understandable when you read this. They control the weather...do they control this too?

I finally have my answer--and it's been pretty fascinating. The old leaves, still green--but dull, fall as the new buds push them out. It's like when your Big teeth come in and push your baby teeth out. Soooo--the sweepers have more to sweep these days.

At 5:55, I begin thinking about my blog. Does it make sense for me to write all this about my internet obsession without mentioning that this is the ONLY connection to America that I really have? I don't watch tv here--the only news I can buy here is the China Daily-the Party run English-Language newspaper. Soooo--the internet can be a big deal. What are the obvious details of life here that I leave out? Tim didn't know until this week that I don't have a dryer. It's just a mundane detail--but yeah, no one (except the more rich ppl, I guess) has dryers in China. Why? Is it b/c they use too much electricity? Is it b/c the houses/apartments are equipped with the area for that vent/hose/thingy? Anyway--we all hang up our clothes to dry.

Also--since the veggies from the market are fresh and not pumped with as many preservatives (maybe), they go bad much more quickly--so you have to go to the market on a every-other-day -ish basis and use your veggies and fruits quickly if you don't want to waste them.

There are the roosters. They're still around.

Also--there are water buffalo roaming free on my campus. Last week I was walking between the basketball arena and the building that I teach in and there one was--chewing on some grass in an unmown area of land. No fences. No tethers. I walked past him without paying much attention, and then had to stop, look at the fella, and remember that I live in a world where I pass a water buffalo on the way back from class. Haha--I gotta say...I love it!

Also--I'm sick. I feel terrible and just want to sleep--but can't. Maybe it was the DayTime Tylenol from over 12 hours ago, or the coffee from over 8 hours ago. Maybe it's because I can't breathe out of one side of my nose and my throat is swollen. It's sooo easy to get sick here. Breathing the pollution in Beijing is said to be the equivalent of smoking 70 packs of cigarettes a day. My students all tell me that the air in Wuhan is much worse than in Beijing. That's alot for one little immune system to fight! I love China--but sleepless nights and colds make me miss home.

Well--it's 7:18--and I'm gonna take another go at getting some sleep for the "night." I may regret posting such a random, sleep-deprived blog post--but maybe it'll motivate me to write something good and substantial to post over it soon!
Goodnight!