Two years ago when I applied for Intrepid I was hoping that they would send me to France… pretty obvious how that worked out for me! hahaha. Two years later I am so glad they didn’t. I would’ve loved to explore Europe, and I still plan to, but this has been so much more of an adventure and a challenge! Not only have I got to see nearly every place in China I could’ve wanted to, but I also got to go to Vietnam, Mongolia, Khazakstan, Thailand and Cambodia. WOW. Six years ago when I first visited China I thought it would be fun to come back for the Olympics ~ little did I know how involved I’d get to be! I saw TWENTY GAMES, plus the Opening and Closing Ceremonies! (and yes, you’re still allowed to hate me for that ;-) ) The past two years have been unprecedented in my life. Its not often one can truly say that they’ve had their dream come true – and that it was everything they could’ve wanted it to be.
None of it would have been as much fun without the people I met and the fantastic friendships that came out of it. I remember our first morning of training, looking around the room and thinking, “how did I wind up here with this crazy bunch?” and then realizing I was totally one of them :-) My dear friends, drinking buddies, confidants, teachers, and co-adventurers… EJ, my worst influence and best friend in China; Jordan, my little brother; Ann Thai, our little Thai Chili!; Spark, who liked to borrow my stories for his blog when he didn’t have any interesting ones of his own, and with whom I shared a great adventure travelling through Xinjiang and Khazakstan; Paul, the original “Rough Guide” to China; Stuart who lets me whinge, and then comforts be and keeps me going; Sharon, dear friend, mentor and commiserater; Zef,”Jiu shifu” whose little bar became my second home and whose advice always hit the heart of the matter; and Daniel, “Da niu” who constantly makes me laugh at the most random things! I have to say a special thanks to the guys, Spark, Paul, Zef, Dan and Stuart, because when Sharon left China in August I essentially had no girlfriends left in the country that I could call up whenever I wanted to chat or needed advice, so between these four great guys they shouldered the burden of… well, Me. Haha :-) To all the others, there are too many to name, how many awesome and fun friends and passengers I’ve crossed paths with during this time.
I would love to write down here all the things I’ve learned in the past two years, about China, about my work, about people, but its too great to quantify. I can tell you the thing I’m most proud of, hands down, is having taught myself to speak Chinese! CHINESE! Are you kidding me?? LOL. The process has been equal parts fun and frustrating, but now I am so stoked when I can ask questions in complete sentences, and understand the response! hehehehehe :-) The other thing that impresses me (now let me pump my ego for a second), is being able to have intelligent conversations with people about Chinese politics, history, culture, language, and world affairs as well. I have learned so much about the world and where other people come from, not just Chinese, but my passengers as well, and I determined early on to be a good ambassador/representative of America, to go against most people’s perceptions of us. I’ll admit though that it still makes me a little happy when people cant pick out my accent, and have to ask if I’m British or Australian J It makes me feel multi-national, like I cross borders. By far the most fulfilling part of my job has been when I’m having one of these conversations with a passenger, explaining China, and I see that they get it. Not just that they comprehend it, but that they absorb it and let it affect their perceptions; they get it. That to me is the most important impact of my work, besides all the good times and seeing really awesome places.
And oh the places I’ve seen and crazy stories I’ve lived! :-D I’m so glad you guys have enjoyed reading them and laughing along with me (or at me) ;-) You really have made this possible for me by being not only supportive but INTERESTED as well! It means SO much, all of your blog comments and emails make me very happy. So, thank you for casting your votes for Favorite Story!! :-D It was a close contest, but after much deliberation the Winner was……. The Wild Wild West! Which garnered extra points for descriptive qualities, LOL. I appreciate all the votes and I was truly surprised at the variety of responses, which also made me happy because lots of people liked lots of the stories for different reasons. I was also surprised because I honestly thought everyone would go straight for the “headfirst in a rice paddy" story LOL!! I think the one I had the most fun writing was either “But Where Has the Tent Gone??” or “No Rest for the Wicked” (including the rice paddy tale) because I remember laughing a lot while writing them. Without a doubt though, my Favorite Trip, with the most wonderful passengers, great adventures, and never ending laughs was……. a tie! LOL, between “It’s All a Bit Fuzzy” whom I call my Fuzzy Ducks, and “The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow” whom I call the Westside Pandas. I LOVED every minute of these two trips and every one of the passengers. They were the best of times. :-D
Now because I’m very silly, and have way too much time to think about these things, I’ve put together some funny little statistics to amuse you all…. :-D So here goes:
Number of visits to the Great Wall: 13 (over 5 different sections)
Number of passport stamps: 115
Number of visas: 6
Number of pickpockets: 2
Number of fans I’ve broken or lost: 5
Number of trains I’ve taken: 45
Number of passengers who survived me: 131
Number of kilometers I’ve trekked: 196km/122mi <<86km of which was on the Great Wall>>
Number of hangovers: only 2 that made me question my desire to live
Number of fights I’ve had in Chinese: 5
Journal comment that made me laugh the hardest: “Four cow turds….. almost snorted soda out m’nose, thanks” LOL, courtesy of Crystal ;-)
And most importantly….. Number of PHOTOS…….5385!!!!!!!!!
What I won’t miss about China: Spitting (and hacking), squat toilets, carrying my own toilet paper to the squat toilets, hearing “My Heart Will Go On” EVERYWHERE, ankle nylons, rice wine, bad passengers, and balancing my accounts.
What I will miss about China: Chinese food, feeling like a rock star when you walk down the street and people shout “hello!”, free wireless at every Starbucks, good passengers, speaking Mandarin, living here…
Most Random Moments / Things I Never Knew I’d Do:
Sharing my ipod with a rural farmer on a bus from Longji
Learning all about the growing process of Rice
Herding cattle in Mongolia
Driving a taxi across the desert
Fighting in Chinese
Getting a Monday morning phone call about Khazaks and yurt camps
Becoming a minorities advocate
There’s no way to sum up two years in one blog – so thank goodness I have 20 others for that! hehehe You may be wondering what’s next in my world…. Of course that answer is not one plan but 5 plans :-) That way no matter what works out I still get what I want, lol. In a nutshell, I’m flying home Nov 11th, to my family, my friends, and my boyfriend. I’d like to find a job in a travel agency, preferably Intrepid related, but with the current economy I may have to rethink that. I am thrilled to be in my dear friend Amy’s wedding in June :-D After that the possibilities are endless – travelling around Europe with Nick, or living in Germany… or New Zealand… or London 2012, LOL! The world is my magic carpet and I’m not done exploring it yet!!
