Xanga

Welcome to my Xanga.

So there are 2 more terms to go. I don't want to leave Hanover, though I didn't like it at first.

I kept dreaming about people back home these days. My dad was telling me about this Japanese run Italian restaurant franchise that I have never heard of and is everywhere in Shanghai now. By the time I left, Italian food in Shanghai people's concept was nothing but Pizza Hut, and Zeno at best. Things have changed so much. There will be at least a year before I can go home again. I don't know if I will feel out of place. A few other people from home who goes to school in the States told me that Shanghai to them is nothing but a place to eat, play and shop. These comments made me sick, and sad too. Going home is about conneting with the people who care about you, rather than merely satisfying base and material desires. Of course food and goods are cheaper and better at home and should be taken advantage of, but why are they more important than the people you love?

I cleaned my room for the new term and the new year. My next door neighbor Dan has been assembling a $50 drawer set for the entire afternoon. Chris seemed to be big help to Dan, though Chris chipped a hidden edge of a drawer. By the time I left for work, people were still taking things down from the attic. All of them are 06s. I'd like to get the know the 06s who joined during the term that I was off.

Speaking of that off term, I began to miss the bath tub in my sublet apt in Stamford, CT, my Ylang-ylang bubble bath, and my lost CD of Beethoven's excellent Cello/Piano duet that was always played during my baths. Jing and I went to Cape Cod for Bed and Breakfast this Christmas break, with my sole intention being getting into a bathtub and read. Bathing was not possible the first night due to the electricity black out caused by theeavy snow storm. However, Barnstable was a beautiful silver land after the snow, rustic and graceful. Baby yellow houses looked like delicate lemon cakes with thick icing, sparkling in the sun were the elaborate Christmas wreathes. Unfortunately we were not able to find a restuarant open for lunch because they didn't have electricity either. We ended up having a picnic in our room by the fireplace with the grocery we got from the only store open. It was still good fun. 

The Inn, Beechwood Inn, is run by two wall street veterans, both former high level operations executives, which explains why the Inn is so well managed. The landlady made us awesome 3-course breakfast. The landlord entertained us with friendly conversations during breakfast. They also breed golden retrievers, two of which befriended me during the breakfast on the second and the third day. Many people return to this inn since they loved it.

I guess I miss the Lilac Room that we stayed in at the Inn afterall. When I leave Hanover, I will miss the End at Alpha Theta. When I say "miss", I don't mean I hope to get back there and stay- I want to move on - it just means that sweet memories comes back to me.