ChinaBlog Day 48

--I’m in Los Angeles right now. I may not have mentioned that I was returning home so soon, but that’s only because I’m just here for a thesis review and in a few days I’ll be back in Beijing. My last day in China is July 7. But it’s really nice to be home for a bit, see everyone, marvel at the strangeness of my home life. After living amongst families who all rotate their sleep schedule to share one bed, it’s pretty strange to show up here where everyone lives in their own house and has their own yard and takes up so much space that it makes me wonder how we can possibly sustain it all. I guess that’s the question of the century. I feel more culture shock coming home than I ever did upon my arrival in China. And the air in LA is so clear. Jeez.
--There’s an interesting thing happening at BASE right now. About three weeks ago, a large group of us, mostly the guys, all ate the same thing at the same place and ended up with some sort of exotic sickness. It’s not the end of the world, and shut your ears if you are easily embarrassed. A lot of us are mysteriously not ‘regular’. In fact, we are more like ‘disturbingly often’ and ‘freakishly sudden’. It is not uncommon for the tranquil atmosphere of studio to be rent by the sound of a wooden chair being flung backward as some poor soul bursts from his desk to sprint at full speed on careful tiptoes to the bathroom, where all manner of pungent sounds emanate for just a couple of minutes. Then the door will push open, and out will come said person, haggard and relieved, to return to his desk for another couple of hours of peaceful work until the process is repeated again. What is this madness? It makes you start to worry about all sorts of things that are not perfectly right. For instance, I sneeze a lot in the morning. I thought it was my down bedding, but maybe it’s another symptom of the ravaging effects of this strange Eastern parasite. And my knee has been bothering me a lot, which I originally chalked up to a grueling all-day hike across the Great Wall, but perhaps it’s the bug eating away at cartilage between my bones. Also, one of my taste buds is falling out. No kidding. It’s about 3 millimeters longer than the rest of them, and it’s right in the center of my tongue, swishing about in my mouth like a sea anemone tentacle whenever I drink something. I think I’d better see a doctor. Maybe the taste bud is the key to everything that’s wrong with me. What if that’s the Chinese Parasite Headquarters for Section Chris. Is it possible to have one taste bud surgically removed? I can almost pull it out myself, but I think that would be quite messy. Best to leave the skilled work to the professionals. Bu I can feew ip fwopping awoun im my mouf aw va ime an ip’s fweaping ammoying. Aaa. Unh. Bammip! Sigh. Can’t get it. Anyway, my thesis review is tomorrow at 2. If any of you want to come see it, it’s at Sciarc, so stop by if you’ve got a minute. I’ll let you know how it went in the next post.
-c