There were a couple mixups here in Guiyang regarding what day we were going to finish teaching. Our original end date was June 14th...which would be the end of this week. When that was the case, Amber and I were going to travel around China a bit before heading down south to Vietnam. One of our stops was going to be Nanjing where we have a couple friends and I'll be living and teaching next school year. Well it turns out, we were supposed to be finished teaching in Guiyang until JULY 14th, which put quite a hamper in many of our plans. But a happy medium was reached and I'll be teaching in Guiyang until June 30th now. Amber and I canceled our travels in China (I mean, I'll have plenty of time for that next year anyway) but I still needed to find my way out to Nanjing to get my contract and finalize everything. So I just picked the following weekend and went. There is explanation part one.
Now on to the explorations. I was super excited to go to Nanjing. I would get to explore my new home even if it was only for a couple days and I would get to see a few friends (yay!) and I mean how is that anything but exciting. Well let me tell you how nerve racking it can be traveling in China by yourself for the first time. Actually, it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it could be. By now I am used to taxi drivers going the wrong way on purpose and jacking up my bill, I've been in and out of the Guiyang airport enough times to be comfortable. But arriving in Nanjing was just a little...scary? I don't know. It was pretty late when I got in and it was raining. But I had no problem getting a taxi and he knew how to get me where I needed to go and he got there fast. Walking down a strange alley at midnight got my heart pumping a little bit faster...but I mean, I can hold my own. hah.
I fell asleep pretty quickly at my hostel (word to the wise...if you ever find yourself in Nanjing I would highly recommend Jasmine Youth Hostel...it was great. and that is a legit no strings attached recommendation). I was most excited for Saturday. I was going to hang out with Sarah all day and meet people from my new school and actually see my new school. But of course the rain tried to dampen (heh) my day. And of course I didn't let the rain ruin anything. I trudged around in that rain like a soggy successful mess. I'm not quite sure if I can label what the highlight of that day was. I mean, I played ping pong...pardon me, table tennis, ate so much cheese, had a starbucks, ate Mexican food (!!) and played a new board game (shout out to ticket to ride). So yes, it was a good, long, fun day.
Now comes explanations round two.
I feel like I need to be completely honest and admit how flippin' scared I was at this point in time. How much doubt and fear was swirling around my brain and suffocating my thoughts. When I arrived in Guiyang, it was an instant love affair with zero hesitation. When I arrived in Nanjing...not so much. As I was settling in on Saturday night, I couldn't help but think "maybe I'm making a mistake. maybe I made a mistake. maybe this isn't right. maybe it isn't what I want" Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I swear, I thought I wouldn't get any sleep for tossing and turning and the endless thoughts racing through my brain. When I first came to China, I knew that I would have a good friend with me from start to finish. I knew that I would make good friends with the other two teachers placed in my city. I knew that I would never be alone. But now I'm setting off to go to Nanjing alone. Sure, I know people in the city. But they all know people. They all have people already. I'm going in blind. Nothing is really guaranteed. It is pretty nerve racking entering a city with millions and millions of people and not knowing if you'll find a friendly face. Not knowing if you'll like it, feel at home. So I was having a royal freak out session.
Sunday rolls around and I have to say goodbye to Sarah as she was leaving to head back to the States. That was pretty hard, more so for her, but hard enough for me. Sarah was a friend I wasn't expecting to make in China. We knew each other for all of what, seven days in Hong Kong before she went to Beijing and I went to Guiyang. But through our dear friend QQ, a great friendship was born and we discovered kindred spirits within each other. I mean, we are practically the same person. I feel so grateful, not only that I met her, but that the fates lined up and allowed us to see each other before she left China.
I also was treated to a wonderful afternoon in Nanjing by a friend who lives there. I talked about Ben way back when in Hong Kong the first time around. He is the father of a student of Brad...look at how this has all come full circle. I started my China adventure with the wonderfully dubbed hostel group, and I got to see some of them again. Well Ben took me out to a park in Nanjing, what he called the most beautiful place in the city and to the Sun Yat-Sen Mausoleum. The park was huge and was the first thing that I can say I truly loved about Nanjing. It was so green! There were trees everywhere! People were bike riding and walking and there were lakes and birds and kids and it was just so so great! I love seeing that side of China. Away from the tall buildings, busy people, and car horns. I love feeling like I'm part of something old and historic. I feel like I am in the real China when I am surrounded by nature and not skyscrapers.
Ben also took me to dinner which was incredibly nice and the food was so deliciously amazing I thought I had fallen in love. And I defnitely never thought I'd feel that way about fish, because I have never liked fish. The food in Nanjing definitely has a different flavor palate than Guiyang, and I can't say that I mind one little bit. After dinner we walked around the main downtown area before I headed back to my hostel. I went back to the hostel for bed that night with a fully belly and happiness in my heart.
Some of my uncertainties still remain about Nanjing. I don't regret any of the decisions I made. I don't regret signing on to live in China for another year. I don't regret making my new home Nanjing. I think maybe you can't enjoy everything to its fullest extent if it was all sunshine and daisies all the time. I've had my fair share of struggles getting to this place, getting this job, and fulfilling my newest dream to stay in China. I think my future appreciation for Nanjing will be that much greater because I've already experienced the doubt and fear.
We'll see what the future holds. I'm just as excited as you to figure it out.
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