China and...Stuff

My blogs are becoming more and more uncreative as time progresses. I never know how or where to start and, consequently, I usually avoid making updates altogether. But now that I’ve actually started, and now that you're actually reading, I can begin my pointless rambling without trying harder to woo you into the body of this post... right?

I went to China maybe a week or so ago...? It’s easy for me to lose track of time here because (A) I never wear a watch (it wouldn’t help me to be on time anyway; it would only make me ultra-aware of just how late I am) and (B) the more aware of time I am, the more panic-stricken I become about... I don’t know... my life. So, I just don't think about it. And I’m straying from the point. The point is, ladies and gentlemen, China was a good time. I will never, ever travel in a tour group again if I can help it, though. Too many Americans, Canadians and other Westerners traveling together in one big herd made China feel a bit unauthentic. All in all, however, it worked out to be a relatively good experience. I can honestly say I’ve climbed the Great Wall of China now, which was by far the highlight of the trip. I’m tempted to tell you that I climbed to the top of the section of the wall we were on, but it would be a big, fat lie that someone (anyone who was at the scene) would surely call me out on and make me feel like a loser. The truth is, the Great Wall of China is not the smooth, winding, beautiful entity I expected it to be. It's steep and mostly made up of jagged, uneven steps, and it's a bit treacherous in some spots. Did I mention it's steep? Our tour guide told us not to worry about this section of the wall because it's an easy hike. Honestly, if that was the easy part, I would hate to see which part of the wall he'd deem as "difficult". Now, take all of this into consideration as I tell you that I only made it up a little ways (which was still relatively far in MY book), because my temperamental fear of heights suddenly kicked in about halfway up and my knees locked, preventing me from going any further. When I had climbed up a good share of the way, I made the detrimental mistake of turning around and looking at the many steps below me, lying there in anticipation for someone (namely me) to crash down on their jagged edges. Frozen solid; that's what my knees were. I was quite disappointed in myself, but there was no reasoning with the side of my brain that controls my legs, so I clung to the rusty railing on the wall for dear life and slowly made my way back down (with much fear and trembling). But whatever; I was on the Great Wall of China, which is a minor accomplishment within and of itself. And here's a brief run-down of the rest of the trip: it consisted of getting up way too early, staying in a five star hotel (which felt weird, being in China and all), visiting the Forbidden City (which was surprisingly huge), eating good but questionable food, standing in Tiananmen Square staring at a giant picture of Mao while thinking of everything that picture represents, and seeing a number of other places that were nice, but apparently didn’t leave an impression on me because I can’t remember what else we did. (And if I had just rattled off that sentence out loud, I would surely be out of breath.) Of course, every trip has it's downside, and the downer of this trip was definitely the fact that my camera bit the dust on the first day while I was standing in the middle of the Forbidden City. What terrible luck! It didn’t come as a huge surprise, though, as I’ve had that particular camera for years. It’s been around the world with me and I have not treated it kindly. Needless to say, you won’t be seeing many pictures of Beijing any time soon. (But I stole this one from Facebook!)

Hmmm... Now I’m sitting here staring at a half-blank screen, trying to decide what to tell you next. My life, as eventful as it seems to me sometimes, suddenly seems rather dull when I see it in print. I suppose the biggest thing (an event-ish thing) for me right now is trying to decide what to do with myself come February when I’m officially a nomad. I could, of course, fill pages and pages with my thoughts on that subject, but I would lose every single one of you. So, instead I will leave you with an abrupt ending and an opportunity to impress me: I’m open to any life-suggestions you may have for me (good advice, bad advice, whatever you got!), so go ahead and suggest away.... (Click on the comment link below.)