Monthly Recap: May 2017

Where I Went

Urumqi & Turpan, Xinjiang Province

Lin'an, Zhejiang Province

Best on the Blog

Lhasa, Tibet - This is one of two posts about my time in Tibet.

Best on Instagram

Shannan, Tibet -

Sunset at Everest Base Camp - 

Books I Read

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families by Philip Gourevitch - this is a really well done book about the Rwandan Genocide. While it's obviously a difficult read, the author does a good job of explaining history and some of the complicating issues in surrounding countries. It's a good mix of history, personal experiences, and interviews with survivors of the genocide.

China on the Wild Side: Volume II - by Joseph Rock - this is the second part of the book I read last month. I honestly liked the first volume better. Also, it says the book covers Qinghai and Gansu, but he doesn't actually go to Qinghai province, he's in Sichuan province for most of the book. I found that a little disappointing, but he still has some incredible pictures and stories in this volume.

Inside a US Embassy by Shawn Dorman - this book is pretty much identical to a book I read in February called "Realities of Foreign Service Life." I think this one was better and has more diverse content. The "day in a life" section was really helpful and the last chapter is about applying to work in the Foreign Service, which was pretty helpful.

Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah - this is a collection of autobiographical stories from Noah's childhood. He was born in South Africa during the apartheid to a black mother and a white father. He talks about that and about all aspects of his childhood and the struggles he and his mother went through growing up. It's a well-written and, at times, heart wrenching, book. I'm a big fan of Trevor Noah's comedy, especially his Netflix special "You Laugh But It's True," which covers similar aspects of his background.

Inspiration

I'm always on the lookout for new podcasts, especially motivating ones. A new podcast called "At Home With..." is a podcasts which interviews successful women in their homes and you get a glimpse into their lifestyles and careers. It's so interesting. I love learning about the way different people live - it's so interesting to briefly be immersed in a life that's completely unlike your own.

Speaking of successful women, I watched Girlboss on Netflix this month. It's around 10 episodes and they're less than half an hour long. It's based on #GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amaruso, which is a book that I'd like to read, but I haven't gotten around to it in the few years it's been saved on my Goodreads list. I think they did a great job with the show - it's very inspirational, but also realistic in the ups and downs of starting a business, romance, and life, I think.

I don't think inspiration is the right word for this next one - maybe obsession is more apt. I have been listening to Ed Sheeran's album "Divide" non-stop for the past couple of weeks. Some of his songs make me feel sad, others happy, other nostalgic. It's not normally the kind of music I listen to, but I have always been an Ed Sheeran fan.

Challenges

I've had a bit of a rough month emotionally. I have a lot of feelings coming up because I have less than a month left in Hangzhou and about five weeks left in China. I am excited to see friends and family, go home to the US (and eat Mexican food), then start back at university in Edinburgh. I'm also really sad to be leaving. While there are some things I don't like about China and my life here in Hangzhou (specifically the classes here), China is a really interesting place to live. Most of the time it's fun, cheap, and a constant supplier of stories. On occasion it can be frustrating or people can be alienating, but overall I know I'm going to miss it here. I feel really nostalgic even though I haven't left yet.

I took the HSK 5 exam this month, which is the international Chinese language exam. I honestly don't know if I passed. I think some sections were better than others. But overall it was really difficult and the skills tested are not my strongest skills in Chinese. I will probably write about it when I get the results.

Highlights

This month I ran 5km in aout 40 minutes. That's the first time I have ever run 5k in one go! I'm really excited to keep running, especially now that the weather's warmer. Evening runs are my new favorite workout!

This month has been really productive. I wrote a draft for an essay due in September for the University of Edinburgh, which was about 3,500 words. I will polish it later in the summer, but it feels good to have written it so early. I have now moved onto working on my dissertation, which is due at the beginning of October. It's going to be about 9,000 words, so it's a monster. I have reorganized myself, refocused my research, and trying to look at a lot of theoretical explanations for the topic I'm researching. It's exciting, but pretty slow going. I'm sure I've got 1,000 pages or so of articles and books to read this summer.

I recently wrote about my FSOT reading list and my summer reading list. I've been pretty into reading - more so than usual. I set a goal on Goodreads to read 15 books this year (my goal was 12 last year). In June, I will pass my goal, I think. I'm on track to double my reading goal this year. That's pretty exciting! I will probably aim to get to 25 books by the end of the year, since I won't be able to read as much once I start my fourth year. This is by far the most books I've ever read in a year. I think it's because I have a goal and a project. I don't feel like I'm reading aimlessly. When I finish a book, I already know what I'm going to read next and I'm excited about it.

The last highlight is unusual for me, I guess. It's been staying in Hangzhou. I'm not leaving Hangzhou to start my last trip for a couple of weeks, so I am enjoying seeing friends, going on runs in my neighborhood, going to my favorite restaurants, and spending afternoons at my favorite cafe. Also all the wonderful summer fruits are coming into season: bayberries, lychees, cherries, mangoes, etc! Yum!

Up Next

June is going to be an interesting month. It's the month of change, really. I finish classes in about a week and a half. I need to pack up all my stuff. I will have my last two weeks in Hangzhou with friends.

I will be leaving in the middle of the month to travel for about three weeks. I'm really excited for that. It's my last hoorah in China!