I'd like to name this post "The little old lady selling porn..."

...and other random quotes, thoughts, situations and ramblings. (Emphasis on random)

I was walking by the tennis courts the other day and noticed two people playing tennis. If you haven't gathered already, it's really cold here and there's still a little residual snow on the ground from a couple weeks ago (it's been dry ever since). As a result, I've taken up the habit of wearing 5-6 layers whenever I leave my apartment. Nevertheless, these tennis players were in short sleeves. I was walking past at some distance so I could hear them hitting the ball, but couldn't actually see the ball. The scene was surreal--gray sky, snow on the ground, short sleeves and only the sound of the ball. Kind of like a Renee Magrite painting. At that moment it struck a chord as I was contemplating the whole situation of me not knowing and worrying about what other people are really thinking...it's silly, kind of like hitting an imaginary tennis ball back and forth. The ball, what people say...It seems like it's there, you can hear it. But you're not really certain if it actually is or not. ooo, existentialism...hooray for liberal arts degrees!

Relationship update: Boy in Guangzhou has since put the relationship on ice, stating via text that he realizes the whole distance situation isn't fair to me and if I were to find someone else in Shenyang, he wouldn't be mad but that he at least will always consider me his best friend. I know I know, I got dumped by a guy I've met twice. Meh good riddens, I was tired of pretending. I was concerned that our "split" would affect my relationship with his family (as I've really come to appreciate and enjoy their support and love) and he assured me that not only does his mother still love me, but that I can call on her if ever I need anything. He also reiterated that he was serious about wanting to forever be my friend. We'll see how well that holds up here in the future. Oh silly Chinese men.

Speaking of silly Chinese men, my trainer friend (henceforth known as Dabo rhymes with Cabo) at the gym and I have hit it off. The only bad thing is he sometimes won't leave me alone long enough to get a good workout in. Whatever the case, it's good practice for my Chinese and it's exceptional motivation to get my big butt to the gym during the week. I'm one of the only women usually and naturally, I'm a bit of a showoff so the extra attention is making me push myself a little harder than what I would normally do on my own. Don't worry, I'm being good--good technique, not TOO hard--it's just extra gumption to go the extra set on the abs or few minutes more on the treadmill. I was doing some back extension exercises on the ball and Dabo and another patron were skeptical that the particular exercise I was doing actually had any effect. I had them try and was glad I did because it was highly entertaining watching them (and their egos) roll right off.

I've decided I love playing soccer. It is truly the best part of my week. I talked to Leng, the guy in charge, and he said he'd call me when they play at other times during the week. So now, my week can have multiple highlights!

Chinese names fascinate me. Much more than just naming someone by the sound of the name, like Jessica or Ashley or Michael, Chinese names take on meaning through the characters. Parents often choose names that both sound pleasing and have auspicious or powerful meanings. Like my name, Jiexi 杰茜 means marvelous and pure. The first chracter is made up of the characters for tree and fire and the bottom half of the second character is the character for West. You start reading into these characters and you come up with all sorts of hidden meanings and coincidences. Other cool names: 海洋Haiyang, he goes by Ocean, a direct translation. Another friend: 含笑Hanxiao, means always smiling. She literally is always smiling too. My friend Weige, his full name is 王威Wang Wei, which means mighty and impressive king. Check this out, great name: 冷红杉Leng Hongshan, means Cold Red Sequoia. Very befitting of his personality. I love it when the names here work out like that.

A couple of my grad students taught me how to properly eat sunflower seeds and I am as a result thoroughly addicted.

I twisted my knee again playing soccer last night. It's pretty sore and I'm a little worried that I might have torn something. yikes! Please keep your fingers crossed that I don't need surgery or anything like that. It hurts to bend it and it really hurts to squat which needless to say makes using "squat toilets" (which, outside of my apartment are pretty much standard)a bit of a challenge.

I opened one of my Christmas presents early...a box of Harry and David truffles from my mom! I'm limited to one a day, which is fine, they're super sweet and it means they'll last longer. Many of you will remember (some may still use these) the chocolate advent calendars? Well this is my advent calendar of sorts.

I'm kind of in autopilot mode at the moment. Classes are coming to an end and final presentations start soon. Thank heavens! When I think of more profound things to say, I'll update you again but for now, that's about all that's going on.