one-way

it's official!
just purchased a one-way ticket from shanghai back to america, departing on june 30.

let the countdown begin.....

cups of coffee:  1 with soymilk

mood:  whoa

springtime in beijing

three days, two nights...one last trip to beijing before i leave china.
overnight trains, peking duck, crowded subways, summer palace, skewer of fried scorpions, speakeasy bar, meeting up with friends old and new.
delightful.

 our lovely courtyard hostel

 beautiful day - outside forbidden city

 forbidden city

 lovely old door in a hutong neighborhood

 first bite!

 eating our way through the famous wangfujing night market

fabulous spring afternoon at the summer palace

beijing - i admit you've won me over. but i'll always be a shanghai girl at heart.

cups of coffee: 2 + 2 green tea

mood:  going strong

and now for something completely random

if i could be any literary character, hands down, it would be anne shirley of "anne of green gables." i had a conversation the other day with a male friend who described her as a perfect role model for young women. i completely agree with him. she is intelligent, passionate, determined, yet also incredibly caring, sacrificial and tender. i strive to embody those characteristics as well but find myself identifying with her fiery temper more often than not...

as for literary heroes, my crush is atticus finch from "to kill a mockingbird" (one of my favorite books of all times) - especially the portrayal played by gregory peck in the 1962 film version. *sigh*

cups of coffee:  2+

mood: sleepy

all so beautiful

this past weekend was one for the books. one might even call it 'epic'. it started with hanneke's celtic fusion fiddle concert to a crowd of 200+ on friday evening, rolling into a rowdy karaoke night until the wee hours, complete with interpretive dancing and live violin accompaniment on coldplay's "viva la vida." saturday started leisurely and then continued at a lazy pace all afternoon at a bathhouse. saturday night was catching up with the bro and sis-in-law while watching 'community' and 'the office' and feasting on mediterranean takeout. after church on sunday, i gorged on red wine and meat at a friend's brazilian bbq house party, then jumped, swung and twirled my way through a repertoire of scottish dances at another friend's birthday ceilidh. the weekend capped off with an amazing dinner at a xinjiang restaurant, washed down with black beer (a xinjiang specialty) and lots of laughter around a large table.

wow.

the whole weekend was such a gorgeous display of friends, family, food, love, music, dance, joy and all the delightful moments that compose a life well-lived. the joy was contagious: from feet stomping and hands clapping at hanneke's concert; to strangers-cum-friends bonding over heaping plates of black beans with rice and steak at the bbq; to my friend beaming as he celebrated his 38th year of life with an adoring wife, a new baby daughter, and buddies decked out in kilts and toasting him with whiskey....it was all so beautiful.

i felt this tender melancholy strain of unbearable beauty - all these wonderful moments that, as lovely as they were, had to end at some point. all these wonderful joys that point to this longing to experience them forever.

mourning with those who mourn, rejoicing with those who rejoice - we have such capacity for joy and sorrow, for beauty and brokenness. our hearts are too big for these mortal cages.

cups of coffee:  2

mood:  peaceful