twelve

This post marks the three-month mark! I am a third way through my time here. 

It's strange how simultaneously it feels like the time is flying by before my eyes but how the time has also been full to the brim with valuable experiences. 

I've definitely gotten into a routine here and have had the opportunity to affirm a lot of the things I find most important to sustain in my life no matter where I am or what I'm doing (for example doing yoga, playing the guitar and singing, keeping my callouses and forearms strong for when I can climb again, reading philosophy and listening to science-y podcasts, etc). I've also come to recognize the important role of loved ones in adapting to this new environment and have come to value my relationships with my family and friends (old and new) more than ever before. 

For this week: 

In our Monday choir meeting, we continued to work on "This Love".

On Tuesday, I presented my extracurricular project (model UN) along with my fellow NSLI-Y classmates. Some of the other projects, meant to engage us with Chinese students and speakers in general include a Korean elective class taught in Chinese, Running club, Investigation of Shanghai street food and its vendors, a Shanghainese elective course, Basketball club and extra language partnerships! 

I've been enjoying the art from our class's painting unit! This is from our class on Wednesday: 

This Thursday during lunch, the Americans held a Thanksgiving celebration to share the glorious tradition with our host siblings and others. We had apple and pumpkin pies and my Estonian friend Johanna made an apple crisp! It was fantastic. We played "pin the feathers on the turkey" and made hand print turkeys inscribed with what we are thankful for. I wrote that I am thankful for my the family and friends back home as well as all my new friends.

"Happy Thanksgivukkah" 

To celebrate further, we went to a Mexican restaurant for a wonderful (albeit unconventional) Thanksgiving dinner! My burrito wasn't as good as the ones back home but the owner was from Vera Cruz and so so sweet! 

Saturday, I got the chance to meet an old friend of a relative, Molly, who is living here with her husband and 14-year-old daughter, working as a Google programmer. She invited me to attend her Thanksgiving brunch! It was a small yet cozy affair and together we made up a rather "unconventional family": it was wonderful to make connections and feel a sense of home away from home during the holidays. 

There were two NYU Shanghai college students (Kevin and Kristen) who are my age and from Seattle. It was evidence of how small the world is that they are friends with two alumni of my NSLI-Y program! There was also a chocolate engineer named Dan, who's working at a Hershey's factory here but whose dream is to make his beer brewing hobby into a career (if his beer is anything like his fresh squeezed orange juice than I'd place my bets on him). Dan's girlfriend Emilie was also there and is about to get her Anusara yoga teacher certification next week (again: small world)! There was also Qing, a Chinese professor and her Polish boyfriend, as well as an Israeli tech-y and a Chinese teacher named Lisui. 

Overall, it was a very lively time and I got to have some delicious food (Molly's homemade pumpkin pie was AMAZING). 

Even though I miss my family (and tofurkey), I had a satisfying first holiday away from home :) 

Sending thanks and love to everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

! חנוכה שמחה