Sadly, this will be our last blog entry from China. Tomorrow morning we leave on our trip and depart the country that we have called home for the last 2 ½ years. It is with mixed feelings that we leave China. On the one hand, we are so excited to return to the US and our friends and family, clean air and blue skies, and not walking down the street worrying about having your shoes spit upon by accident. And yet on the other hand, we will sincerely miss the excitement and wonder of life in China, the blissful ignorance of not understanding 90% of what people are saying, and the feeling when you get out of bed each morning that an adventure awaits you just outside your door.
Why even today, Tiff and I were in a cab and watched a fight breakout on a street corner. Four women paired off in a tag team match and were fiercely attacking one another in a contest worthy of a GLOW bout (Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling for those of you who have forgotten already!) One pair was locked in close combat, each grabbing fistfuls of hair and pulling the other’s head down, like two bulls locking horns. The other pair traded blows with bamboo sticks they’d found laying around. It was truly mortal combat in the purest form. Now where are we ever going to witness that in California?? And not only did these women fight, but bystanders quickly gathered around. Not to break them up, mind you, but to watch in equal fascination to ours. I believe one old man was quickly appointed bookie as bets were made and money traded hands.
In any event, Tiffany and I have spent the last few weeks reminiscing over good times and bad, lots of “Remember that time when…” stories, and attempting to summarize our experience in China, to roll our last 2 ½ years into one neat, efficient, fortune-cookie metaphor. And we have struggled. We realize that these were the first years of our marriage. And we realize that it has been an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime adventure. But what does it all mean? we wonder.
Who knows, really. Our gut instinct is that our time here will continue to affect and inform us for the rest of our lives, and we will always look back fondly on our days in China. We will remember the struggles and frustrations, the triumphs and failures, and continue to periodically recall our experience with “Remember that time in China when…”
At least one thing is for certain: We have had a damn good time relating our adventures to you all through this blog! And we will try to keep posting our epilogue a little longer while on the road for the next 4 months. Below is our schedule, and we hope to find Internet access along the way.
Thank you for reading, and see you all soon,
Zach and Tiffany
April 3-23 India Tour (Rajasthan, Dehli, Darjheeling and Agra)
April 23-24 Traveling to New Zealand via Malaysia
April 24-May 13 New Zealand (driving around the North and South islands)
May 13- 19 Sydney
May 19-27 Cairnes (Great Barrier Reef)
May 27-28 Chengdu, China via Hong Kong
May 28-June 6 TBD, Chengdu and possibly Tibet or Yunnan Province
June 6-17 Xinjiang Tour- NW region of China, visiting Urumuqi, Turpan, Kashgar and other cities along the Silk Road
June 17-29 Mongolia Tour
June 29-30 Beijing
June 30-July 5 Sanya- Chinese beach town for Zach to recover from Mongolia
July 5-9 Shanghai
July 9-17 France – to visit our friends Anne and Michael, who went abroad the same time we did, to manage a B&B outside Paris.
July 17-22 New York
July 22-29 Chicago
July 29-? San Francisco
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