It’s been almost two months since I left Beijing. Leaving was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. But looking back, getting on that plane alone in Pittsburgh back in May with the destination of Surabaya, Indonesia, was pretty freaky as well. In both cases, I had to just shut off my brain and go where my plane tickets told me. If I had let myself think about it, I probably would have never gotten on that flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo, or from Shanghai to San Francisco. Clearly I get way too emotional about coming and going. Stop crying. Turn off brain. Look at flight time. Proceed to airport. Don’t think about anything.
I only lived in Beijing for 10 weeks, so to say that I’m homesick and still not adjusted to being back in Pittsburgh seems absurd. But the way I lived in Beijing felt so comfortable that I could have very easily stayed there permanently. I hated leaving Beijing because I was literally leaving behind a life that I had made: a neighborhood, a job, a school, and incredible friends. Living there was so invigorating that I nearly forgot it was temporary.
But it was temporary. And I can’t complain. My time since China has been full of great people and places. Jon met me when I landed in San Francisco and we visited with my cousin Brady and his family and my good friend Lauren in Berkeley. We rented a cute blue beetle bug for a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles. I was a lame-o and slept through a lot of it, because a 10-hour road trip the day after flying through 9 time zones is not a good formula for staying awake.

within the first day of being back, i got sunburned
We made a few stops along the way, most notably Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara. Santa Cruz was one of my favorite cities when I made this trip with my family years ago. We stopped there for breakfast this time, and I imagine very few of the city’s wacky residents were actually awake that early.

alone on the santa cruz beach

california is pretty, blah blah blah. there was a hostel at this lighthouse!
We stopped in Santa Barbara because a very rare and crazy thing happened. We were passing through that lovely city at the exact moment that my friend Stephen arrived there by bicycle after riding across the entire United States. Yup, he biked across the country and just happened to end his journey at the same place I was ending mine. He rode for this awesome organization called Bike and Build. He and his team rode from Boston to Santa Barbara in 68 days, stopping to build houses along the way. They were celebrating their achievement in a beach-side park when we found them. Congrats, Steve!

on the beach with the very accomplished cyclist

their trailer full of supplies. yeah they stopped in st. louis!
Santa Barbara was not the end of the fun for Jon, Stephen and I. We met up again in LA before Steve got on his plane back to South Carolina. We also got to meet up with my cousin Nick who lives in San Diego and my cousin Mike and his wife who live in LA. We stayed with Jon’s best friend Heinz and ran around the city with Ashley, the newest and fanciest resident of LA. We also had a Korean dinner to die for with Jon’s wonderful aunt Zooza. Now that was enough to keep me awake.

i'm being mistaken for sushi

nevermind. these guys all just have a licking problem. poor ashley.

chinatown LA: where i am officially allowed to be cheesy
Since I’ve been back in Pittsburgh, I’ve tried to get my head back in the graduate school game. It’s been a lot harder than I expected, and I’m still not totally focused. My thesis topic is… to be announced very very soon! There have been other important things going on, like my first trip home to St. Louis in 2010. Jon and I spent a couple days in St. Louis and a couple in Oktoberfest-ing Hermann, Missouri, for my good high school friend Alex’s wedding. We got to ride along with the wedding party on the Hermann Trolley, so I got to take some pretty cute photos. Congrats, Alex and Nick!

photog action! alex and nick lookin gooooooood

falling off the swings is bad luck (they didn't fall)

me, alex and nat for alex's last moment of singleness
And finally, my parents got the silliest dog ever. Meet Clancy:

Clancy joined the family in May. He's 3 years old, cuddly, adorable, and ridiculous.
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