Sunday, July 29, 2012

Something smells rotten in dreamland....

Last night, I had one of those great nights of sleep (which for me is definitely worth writing about since I experience insomnia at times), only to find myself wide awake after a weird dream. To set the scene a bit, I was surrounded by people from college (some of whom I haven't thought about since college), current friends, and acquaintances. We resided in a strange multistory tree house and on this particular evening, everyone was in high spirits after a great night out. As we filed into the house, I ran ahead of the group only to find myself face to face with a large black and white animal which I quickly realized was a skunk!

The Skunk (photo from justskunks.com)

This was no ordinary skunk.  Firstly, it was much larger than your ordinary skunk and secondly, it didn't run away when it saw me. I proceeded to yell out to everyone that there was a skunk in the house and we needed to get tomato juice but no one seemed to care. I started getting hysterical as I ran around the house yelling out my warnings like I was Paul Revere warning everyone that "The British were coming," But once again no one cared and the skunk remained content. Finally, I got fed up and started yelling at everyone to get the skunk out of the house when suddenly, it started to spray. I ran up the stairs and the skunk followed, marking itself all over the stairs. I ran into a room and shut the door and that is when I woke up. 

I stayed in bed motionless, as my mind raced back to the dream, especially the skunk, and I decided to research what this dream meant. I quickly did a google search on my cellphone of several dream interpretation websites and I was not pleased with what my research yielded. Apparently, dreaming of a skunk means unresolved anger issues as well as, dealing with something that "stinks" in one's life. I started reflecting on my life and what anger issues I could be experiencing and I came up empty handed. As far as I was concerned, I had zero unresolved anger issues, or anything to be angry about for that matter.  I had some things that under the surface,  had upset me in the past, but nothing large enough to cause a dream of such magnitude. I also thought about anything "stinking" in my life and the only thing that I could think of was the large list of things I had to do before leaving for China and how over the past few days those things, were beginning to cause me some stress and even a headache.

I can only hope that this is not some foreshadowing on what may await me in China (even though I'm quite certain there will be a literal stench).  I'm going to do what I've always done before my long term stays abroad: to keep positive and have great thoughts about all the great things I will experience and all the amazing people I will meet. I just hope that one of them isn't a skunk ;)



Thursday, July 26, 2012

为什么中国? (Why China ?)




As discussed in my previous post (you can read it here), I decided to change things up a bit and go to Shanghai, China for a long term stay abroad. The biggest question seems to be "why China?" which I will explain in greater detail below..

In the past, when someone asked me why I was going to China I responded with the partial truth. I told people that I wanted to go to China to learn Mandarin and experience different aspects of the Chinese culture with the ultimate goal of making myself a competitive candidate in the foreign relations sector and the university study abroad sector. I mentioned reading about people who received the jobs of their dreams due to spending some time in China or learning Mandarin Chinese. These answers seemed to satisfy the majority of my listeners (I still had some skeptics), but as I mentioned above, this was only part of the story/reason why I wanted to go. To be frank, I don't know why I decided on going to China...

 Aside from the Summer Olympics of 2008 or some other random new story, I must admit that China barely crossed my mind. For the past few years, dreams of London and other European cities were my biggest concerns and I had little interest in Asia. I even thought about bypassing the world's largest continent in exchange for living and working down under (I mean way, way under) in New Zealand.

I don't know why or how it happened, but by the end of last year, I started having visions and dreams of Asia, specifically China. I had random visions of traveling the country and learning how to read and write those interesting characters. Aside from the visions, things started popping into my life concerning living in China that were not by my own doing. I know it sounds strange and even bizarre to most, but something in my soul was attracting me to China. I never question my female intuition so I started paying attention to what was happening and I decided to act upon it.

So in short, I have no definitive answer on why I decided on going to China. I could say for a travel adventure or better yet, as a resume booster but honestly I don't know. I guess this is one of life's mysteries that will reveal itself in time so I no longer choose to stress about it. Instead, I'm going to listen to my gut and thank the man upstairs for granting me this opportunity.

Thanks again for tuning in!

-Shelly

Sunday, July 15, 2012

What A Difference a Year Makes....

Hello All,

I have neglected this blog over the past year; however, with good reason (o.k., I will be honest, I was just lazy). Here is a quick update about the past year of my life:

1.  I didn't go to France...
After much pondering, debating, and inner reflection, I decided that another séjour in France was not in the cards for me. It was a difficult decision, but I truly believe that I made the best decision. As much as I love being abroad and as much as the assistantship program seemed like an incredible opportunity, I decided that I needed to stay in America and figure out my future a bit more. I needed to stay at a job for at least a year in order to improve my work history and work ethic in the eyes of my future employers. Furthermore, I wanted to work on my finances and save; thus allowing me to spend a longer time abroad in the future. Finally and most importantly, as much as Paris is beautiful, lovely and vibrant, I'm not sure if I could've stayed long term. As much as I love the city, I'm not certain it's for me in terms of staying long term and making a life there. I went through a lot during my first stay there and I guess the fight in me had died. Alas, I may make it back there one day, just not today...

2. I moved out and acquired a place all on my own...
Upon my return stateside at the end of 2010, I moved back home in order to avoid homelessness (and no, I'm not joking). It was great at first, but after several months of living with my parental unit, things became unbearable. At first there were small disagreements which slowly led to large arguments. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, I'm very thankful that I was able to return home and live rent free while I searched for gainful employment and once said employment was secured, save my money for the future. But by the end of 2011, I had grown tired of living at home and I longed for a place to call my own. I searched high and low (on craiglist) and I managed to find a place that was reasonable in price, a quick commute (on foot) to work, and best of all, I would be living by myself with no roommates! I made the big move (less than 10 minutes away from home) the day after Christmas in 2011.

3. I surpassed the one year mark at the firm....
I managed to stay and work at the firm for one year. I miraculously survived not one, but two layoffs and I even gained a slight promotion. Not everyday is great and there are some days where I want to scream; but I'm thankful each day that I'm employed an I have enough money to fulfill all my needs and even a bit of travel.

4. I finally made it out west and experienced a new part of the U.S.A...
I've traveled quite extensively throughout Europe however, I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never seen a lot of my home country. One of my good friends lives in the southwest and I always told her I would visit. Unfortunately, it was never a good time (i.e.:  I had no time, money, or was out of the country). Eventually, all the stars aligned this year and with me being gainfully employed and living stateside, and with her upcoming nuptials and the need to "let it all hang out"before the wedding (via a bachelorette party), I found myself in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area for one full week of sun, fun, friends, drinks and even a bit of relaxation. I even had enough time for a quick day trip to the Grand Canyon ( I will post some pics in an upcoming blog post). It was one of this year's highlights and I can't wait for part two sometime in the future!

And the biggest update:


5. I'm going to China (cue record scratch)...
I'm taking a complete (and literal) 180 from the usual long term stay in Europe in exchange for Asia, specifically Shanghai, China. I'm not sure where this came from, but earlier this year, something in my gut was telling me to go to China. I decided not to ignore my gut and slowly things fell into place. Firstly, I discovered a great blog written by an African American women detailing her life in China over the past few years (www.lifebehindthewall.com) I found a low cost, non-profit Chinese school in my area that offered Mandarin classes. I weighed out my options when it came to employment (the best and obvious choice for me was being an ESL teacher), and areas where I could realistically live. Lastly, I secured employment, working for a company teaching English to adult business professionals. Now, I plan to embark on my first journey to Asia in the upcoming weeks and time is moving quickly....

Well, thanks again for tuning in and please join me on my adventures in China starting this Autumn....