Back, Loving Democracy and Wanting to Eat

I got back two days ago. China seems like a dream now, a dream that brought the dream of my real life into contrast with the stark reality of the world. Almost three weeks of not being sure what I'd eat for the next meal, if I'd be able to use a sanitary toilet, and what the heck I'd be doing sure changes your ideas about time and being comfortable. Walking by dried up old women who carry trash bags full of empty water bottles and seeing people walking the city streets and waiting at bus stops with the saddest neutral expressions on their faces you've ever seen sure changes your perspective. Being fawned over by every other group of Asian people that you see, getting your picture taken, and sometimes even signing your name for a group of eager Chinese school girls, all just because you have light skin, light hair, and blue eyes, sure makes you realize how diverse your own country is. Seeing people constantly working so hard, putting up with heat and smell and uncleanliness, hundreds of school kids wearing the same clothes with their fixed the same way, walking around in groups , blending in with each other, and hearing them talk about how they can't get on Facebook or YouTube because the government doesn't allow it, sure makes you appreciate your own democratic country, where people have a choice about their job and value individuality instead of feeling obligated to be the same as the group. Driving through a forest of skyscrapers, apartment buildings that touch the sky, and standing at the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower to see that the city stretches beyond the skyline, sure makes you realize how small your own cities are. Walking on bricks and stones that are hundreds and hundreds of years old sure lets you know how young your own country is. And seeing women washing their laundry in the river, houses with their windows and doors open to let in a breeze which they depend upon for coolness, a little girl sitting on the street next to an old blind ma who plays a barely audible instrument counting bills, sure makes you believe that the streets in American really are paved with gold.

I don't know much at the moment, other than the fact that I woke up this morning at 4:00 and didn't go back to sleep, and that I've been craving a Chinese breakfast for several hours now. I must be insane. And also somewhat in love with China. So I'd love to write, but all I can really feel right now is the urge to stuff myself with food, familiar food - or food that has become familiar to me in the last few weeks.