I'm Back!!!

jeez gewd lawdy!! it's taking forever for me to catch up to all your posts...

I'm just gonna give up now and catch up when I really can. Need to sleep, try to at least, so I can tackle the work that awaits me in the morning. Gonna try to hit the gym before heading into the office though, the past two weeks have been nonstop eating and sleeping, though the food poisoning fiasco took a whole lotta appetite out of me. Mid-trip I was sure to have gained a few pounds, but after getting sick, I've surely lost more than I gained... poo on that. These muscles are dying out too. I'll be playing catchup in more ways than one.

I'm sure you're all waiting for my stories and such, but really this experience... was... different. Not exactly sure it was what I expected, but most definitely eye-opening. Not to say that it wasn't enjoyable, it's just something vastly different from what I'm used to. I didn't have much to expect before I went, but my image of the place is still pretty much the same, but a lot more real and sobering. All I can conclude is that this whole trip would have been so much so much better with friends than with the parents, obviously. But I think this was necessary, when I first said that this was a pilgrimage, I was half-kidding... but this actually did turn out to be a pilgrimage, I climbed two mountains to get to my ancestors burial grounds, and climbed two hundred steps up a mountain in Nan Hai to pray to the Nan Hai Guan Yin Bodhisattva. It turned out to be a really spiritual vacation.

I'll get into details later when I have time to, but a picture post is sure to come.

swiped from syl:

things I appreciate today:
~ internet
~ friends
~ clean air
~ clean bathroom
~ fuzzy slippers

where does it all go?

the time and the memories.

I really should be documenting more. I always enjoy rehashing old entries to revisit the emotions and the thought process, and to reflect on how far I've come, or how little I've changed, or how much life has past me by.

My trip to China is coming up. My first ever pilgrimage back home, "home" if it ever were to me. I remeber so little of the place, and yet, I can still see the warm, moist, mold on the walls of memories.

Since I've never been to Shanghai, I'll try my best to see all of it for what it is, clash between tradition and modernity, an international affair of cultural orgy. I'm not sure how well I'll fit in, or how much I'll feel out of place. I'm always hoping for life-changing experiences, and I'm allowing this to take on it's course to do just that.