Okay y’all it’s been a long time since my last blog post. February 16th to be in fact. Sorry about that. I actually had to log on and see when my last post was. I am a horrible blogger, and I apologize once again. However, maybe I shouldn’t apologize. That just means that I am busy living my life, right?
So much has happened over the past five months. I finished out the school year at the American Academy for Girls in Kuwait. Volleyball season finished, the classroom was packed up, and goodbyes were said. During my two years at AAG I made some really wonderful friends that were really hard to say goodbye to. As many people know, I hate saying goodbye, so I wrote letters to most of them instead of long goodbyes. Many tears were shed, especially my last goodbye. That one was really hard (love you Nicole!) Nala has found a new home in Kuwait because I was unable to work out her travels from Kuwait to China. On June 8th I packed up five suitcases plus a backpack and made my way back to Iowa.
For those of you who don’t know, I only had 21 days of summer in the US. It was a very fast trip, and it was most certainly a whirlwind. I’m fairly certain I spent more time in the car than anywhere else while I was back. While in the US I made trips to Fremont, St. Louis, Des Moines, and Chicago.
I was able to make a surprise trip to see my grandma for her birthday. I had called her while Dad drove home from the airport and told her that I was going to try to make a trip to see her and she said a phone call was just fine. I knew as soon as she said that I was going to get to Fremont one way or another to see her. She was surprised that was for sure!
The day we came back from Fremont I made my way to St. Louis. The purpose of this trip was to play in several Sheltered Reality shows. These were shows unlike I have ever done before. We played INSIDE seven different libraries. Yes, drums and loud music in a library. They were awesome though. This year across the country libraries are putting on summer reading programs with the theme of “Libraries Rock!” During these shows I got to reconnect with old friends, meet new people, do something I love, and share a positive message with kids and adults across St. Louis. It was a wonderful trip and I loved every moment.
After returning home from St. Louis I made a one-day trip to Des Moines and a three-day trip to Chicago. These trips were made so I could get all of my paperwork in order for China. Let me tell you, it was stressful. Don’t get me wrong, I love being an expat and experiencing new cultures, but all the administrative stuff you need to do in order to go to these different places is extensive and expensive. Did I mention I returned home from Chicago a mere two days before I was set to fly out to China? Yea…that was stressful. All is well though because I’m in China now, so it all fit into place just in time.
That Saturday the Lair family once again packed up in the car and made the trek back to MSP airport bright and early. We got to the airport and I went to check in to find out I did not have a ticket for that flight. It’s a very long and stressful story that I really don’t want to relive, so we are just going to skip that part. Long story short Mom, Dad, and I went out for lunch, went to see “Book Club,” and did some shopping before returning to the airport later that afternoon. After we separated and I got through security I still had a good six hours to kill inside of the airport. I got lots of walking in, had some chocolate, bought a pair of shoes which have now become my favorite pair ever, and did quite a bit of reading. I got into Seattle around midnight and had to go find my bags that made it to the airport several hours ahead of me as they got put on an earlier flight. After I was reunited with them I got some sleep at a nearby hotel. The next morning, I ventured back to the Seattle airport and had another six-plus hours to kill (doing a late checkout at my hotel was going to cost me over $100). The Seattle airport is AWESOME! They have beautiful artwork, live music past security, and some really cute little shops. My gate was also the farthest possible gate away from the security checkpoint so I had a nice little walk with that too.
When I went to check in at my gate (because as a US passport holder you are required to do a visa check before boarding at the gate) they gave me a new ticket. The ticket agent looked up and smiled at me before saying, “you got upgraded. Enjoy your first class seat!” I almost had a heart attack. I got a free (and random because I didn’t request it) upgrade to first class for a 12+ hour international flight. Let me tell you. I will be saving money throughout the year just so I can spend the money to do first class on international long hauls! Being able to fully lay down or simply just have plenty of leg room was glorious! When I got off the plane I didn’t feel like I had just been stuck on a plane for over twelve hours. The guy who sat next to me also received this unexpected upgrade. He had never flown in first class before. I have once before but I was rather young and did not have a great experience (my seatmates spilled their alcoholic beverages on me on both flights. No young child wants to smell of alcohol). He has been in Shanghai for many years so he answered questions that I had and gave me advice. As we were about to get off the plane he turned to me and asked, “so you think you will ever be able to fly coach again?” You already know my answer. J Oh, also, I woke up in China on my birthday. How cool is that?!
For roughly the first week and a half I was in China I was living in a hotel a few miles from my school. While I was living there I did some exploring of Shanghai via the metro system. The hotel was very close to the Shanghai Zoo so I spent a day seeing all the animals. One of the biggest exhibits there was the raccoons. I chuckled to myself as I saw the crowd gathered around and I continued on my way. It is a HUGE zoo and I didn’t see all the exhibits, but I would love to go back again. A little over a week ago I moved into my new home. My apartment is roughly a 45-minute commute to work via public bus. Since moving in and getting settled I have been exploring via public bus to try to get to know things around me. I absolutely LOVE the location of my apartment. It is further out from where most everything is located, but that means it is fairly quiet and peaceful. I spend some time on my porch every night just looking at the stars watching the traffic across the river, and enjoying the breeze. Yes, it stinks that it takes forever to go to most anything I am invited to, but the location of my apartment reminds me of being in Lake Mills or Forest City truthfully.
Last week a few of the other new teachers and I went and took one of the Big Bus City Tours. We did two of the three lines they had available and marked several points of interest we want to go visit and explore more in-depth on our phones. Yep! If you come to visit me in Shanghai, I have a list of places for us to go check out! I am hoping to get over to the East side of Shanghai and check out that area as well before school starts, but I don’t know if that will actually happen or not. That may be a weekend adventure early on in the school year. I also really want to visit Shanghai Disneyland, but I am going to have to save up for that. Maybe I will save that next year. Tonight I decided to see where a gate at the back of my building lead to. I found a walking track right along the river. In the center of the track there are several pieces of workout equipment. There are many little park areas with workout equipment in my housing complex. That is where most of the aunties and uncles spend their day. Often you will see them working out or just sitting on the equipment socializing. I love that I found this track area. It’s a great walking area, especially after the sun has gone down so it isn’t so hot. I hope to use it quite a bit while I live here!
I will say, I have been comparing Shanghai to Guyana quite a bit. First off, holy humidity Batman! It’s been in the upper 80’s-90’s every day since I got here, but when you factor in the humidity it is well over 110 every day. I walk outside and I am instantly sweating. I’m glad I bought a couple camping towels. I take one with me everywhere just so I can wipe off the sweat. Don’t get me wrong, I love the heat, but I actually miss the heat of Kuwait! There are a few other new teachers here that were teaching in Kuwait last year who agree with me. There are lots of foods here that I also learned how to make in Guyana, so it has made me feel right at home. Part of me actually wishes I would have brought my towa (I still don’t know how to spell that) with me. I may need to find that when I go home over Christmas break. Another connection to Guyana is the fact that one of our students from GLMA is actually studying for her master’s degree here in the Shanghai area! She has made her way back to Guyana for the summer, but we plan to get together in the fall when she returns. Isn’t it such a small world?!
I have taken quite a few photos since coming to China. I don’t have a lot of them on my computer though. Maybe I will try to link some sort of photo account to the blog. Would anyone be interested in that? I know I have seen several hits from different countries, so I assume not everyone who reads this blog is friends with me on Facebook and therefore can’t see my pictures. I will have to look into that. I also plan to do a Facebook live video in the next couple days to give a tour of my new apartment. For the most part, it is set up how I want it. There are a few odds and ends I need to get a hold of, but I will wait until after I have started working and getting paid for those. J
This very well may be the longest blog I have written to date. (I don’t actually know if this is fact or not, please don’t quote me). However, I think for the most part I have filled you in on the past five months pretty well. I am looking forward to my newest adventure in life. School starts in a week for new teachers and students start just a few days after that. It’s crazy to think that it’s time to start another school year. I hope to not keep you waiting for another five months for my next update, but until next time keep on trucking!
Love,
Kelli
Here, have some zoo photos!
