"Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood?...To be great is to be misunderstood."
You may ask, "How can a blog on travels in China be that revealing?" Well, I could try to skim the surface, but I know that I constantly analyze, reflect, and link and morph ideas. When I feel so inspired, I reflect through the process of writing and am not sure of what I will discover. I will start this blog about life here in China, but it will most likely manifest into a reflection of my life at the current moment. I mean it to be an honest approach.
I am excited to connect with you, my friends and family, as I am separated by space and time. Before I left, I was reminded of how fortunate I am to be blessed with a community of such caring, wonderful people. If I never made another friend in my life, I would still consider myself to be one of the luckiest people alive. So, thank you.
It is true that it is difficult to communicate via telephone and surprisingly, even internet. There is something called "the great firewall of China." So many websites are censored and the internet is incredibly slow. I have a VPN (Virtual Private Network), which allows me to access sites such as Google, Youtube, and Facebook. My internet cuts out several times in a short span of time. Part of this is due to the sheer number of people on the network. In the middle of the night, I have a better connection but it still manages to disconnect. For those few of you that I have had the pleasure to Skpye with, you understand the frustration of my calls dropping several times in a short span of time.
Regardless of all these frustrations and limited access to communication, just because I have not communicated with you doesn't mean that I have not been thinking of you. I have developed this mindset where I carry all of you with me in my mind. It's similar to the idea that you carry a loved one with you after they have passed, but you're still out there. It makes me feel like I am sharing everything with you guys and I rarely ever feel a sense of loneliness. It is pretty incredible since I moved to a different country by myself where I do not speak the language and am living by myself. I would not be surprised if people thought I was a little strange here as I do laugh to myself often. Many times I am thinking of one of your reactions or thoughts on an event or a moment. Other times I just really crack myself up. Now I can write some of those bits down here for you to read. Just know that I am sending you positive thoughts your way and keeping you integrated into my life.
Now that I have introduced you to my blog, I have decided to get some sleep and I will start with some stories and perspectives in the near future. A last thought-- the title of the blog... I just didn't want to title it, "Liz's Shanghai, China 2014 Blog." In truth, I hope for there to be much more here than a record of some travels. I hope it to be more fulfilling for the reader and writer and have a much more dynamic function. That and of course I was having a hard time coming up with an original blog title that was not already taken. hahaha. I decided to take keywords from my life that speak to me and scramble them together to make a title.
Narratore: closest translation to "storyteller" in Italian. I am very much a storyteller at heart and I integrated this with my Italian identity (though my mom makes up my German and Slovakian side and is the epic storyteller).
Ubuntu: South African philosophy ‘I am; because of you.’” or "human kindness" or “I am what I am because of who we all are.” I first came across this concept when I studied in South Africa for 3 weeks. I loved this philosophy of connection, community, and mutual caring for all.
Kola: The Lakota tribe of South Dakota has a concept of a form of relationship deeper that friendship but not a romantic love. There is no translation in English. A Kola is deeper than brotherhood and kolas will die for each other. I love this concept because it captures a deep form of love not limited to bloodlines or romantic relationships.
Jiàoshī: This is the Mandarin word for teacher. It seemed fitting to include this at the end.
There it is, the beginning of my blog. I will be sure to be back and write about some of my experiences. It looks like I am going to have a little time before the school year starts. I will meet you again soon with some coffee and epic music. I think my reflections may prove to be a decent source of entertainment. I am working as an entertainer these days, just usually with songs, dances, and games.
Until later,
Liz
"Our knowledge is the amassed thought and experience of the innumerable minds."- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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