As Time Goes By

It’s hard for me to believe that it has been well over a week since my last blog.  Time is absolutely flying by!  I’m not even sure what happened to last week…

On our way back from our amazing trip nearly two weeks ago, a couple of people started getting sick.  Actually, it all started about a day before we left to come back to Dalian.  Two kids got sick about a day before we left, and were either on the toilet or in their bed for the entire day before leaving.  When we started to head home on the plane, one more person was not feeling well.  By the time we landed, two more people were feeling sick!  People were dropping like flies, and it was not looking to great.  The side effects seemed to be similar to the ones people get with food poisoning, but man, it lasted a lot longer.

A couple of days after arriving back in Dalian, everyone on the trip had been hit by this sickness.  It is mainly stomach problems and a feeling of daze in the head, but it is not very quick to go away.  I lasted pretty long without getting this little bug, but at once, I got hit. I felt it for two days, thought I was completely healed, so I started eating the Chinese way again, and then started to feel queasy again.  It’s been up and down for me and a lot of people on this trip for the last week and a half.  It’s as if our stomachs just can’t take anymore of this Chinese food.

For the last few days, I decided that I would drink a lot of water and maybe have a few bananas throughout the day.  The first day of this was successful, then the second day I decided to try and eat some bread, along with bananas and lots of water.  Then, last night, I decided to go all out with my first KFC experience!  Well, I rushed into eating to quick!  I’m back to bananas, kiwis, bread, and water until I’m all well again.  I think tomorrow will be the day when I’m all finished with this little bug!

If only KFC looked like this in the U.S.!  Of all of the places in America to eat at, KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut are the ones that I have seen in China.  Suprisingly, KFC is extremely popular here.  The four places listed are all extremely nice for China, and are some of the nicest places to eat at in terms of price and cleanliness.  Every one of the four companies that I have seen here have been at least 2 stories.  Oh, those bikes to the bottom right are for...delivery! haha McDonalds also delivers.

Despite the rough last couple of days/week, the great experiences in China have not diluted.  I’d say that my most memorable part of the last two weeks, besides being able to experience the same explosive stomach problems with twenty people, is the day that I went to go play tennis with some of my Chinese friends. 

When arriving at the first court with two of the four Chinese students that I would be playing tennis with that day, we hit the tennis ball around for about five minutes before deciding to move to another court. Ha, the two guys that I was with suddenly realized why that court is free to play on.  The court was asphalt, had lots of cracks in it, and had an extremely low net.  So, they called down to the courts that are all of the way across campus in order to see if there was a court open for us to play on.  Thankfully, a court was available and so we walked down and met the other two players that we would be playing with.

After about a 20 minute walk, we were all finally able to play some tennis.  We had such a great time.  We played doubles, singles, and tried to help Shayne (one of my Chinese friends’ English name) and Geo learn how to play.  The greatest thing about the entire time that we were all together is the feeling that I had when I was with them.  I felt really free and like I was not getting judged one bit by any of them.  Also, while playing each other, no one was getting mad when they messed up or weren’t playing well.  They all just laughed and had a good time.  It’s hard to put my finger on what was so great about this day.  I felt like I fit in with them and they accepted me so quickly and were all so interested in everything that I had to say. 

Unfortunately, I started feeling a bit queasy from the stomach bug and had to depart ways with them before our trip to get coffee.  Coffee after being active in a game of tennis is something that I am not very used to, but next time we play, I’ll make sure I’m feeling better so that I can join them. 

On a different note, we only have a little over a week left in China.  It’s quite sad, but I am ready to go home and enjoy all of the life that awaits me back home.  From now until then, I will try to complete a couple more blogs.  I’m not completely sure what to write about, but I want to make it a little bit different from what I have done in the past.  I should post another one this weekend at some point.  I’ll be out taking some pictures on Saturday if I get the chance.  I hope time slows down a lot this next week!