Goodbye intensives!

I am so very happy to be done with intensives as of today! Assssaaa! I even had a "coffee drink" today in celebration. LeAnn said I shouldn't drink coffee anymore because it makes me "jittery" -- of course it did! I don't mind a little caffeine every now and then, though. Happy dances for sections of intensives being over throughout the day ensued. :)

Now my schedule is going back to normal, not 9 classes a day or being at the school for 12 hours, and especially not waking up at the crack of dawn! I can enjoy the rest of the summer sun before work now instead of being trapped inside, smushing my nose up against dirty windows to catch glimpses of the hot, muggy, glorious sunshine.

Hmm, went to Shanghai, China with LeAnn and Alex for the long weekend which was interesting and fun. Pictures still to come, intensives consumes me soul to sole for a month straight!

I am now faced with about 10 weeks left before I depart and head back to the homeland. How did that happen? I need to plan plan plan my weeks and weekends, as well as begin to figure out home-oriented story titles, such as "Where will Jesse Work in January?" and "Who Should Jesse go Visit in Which States?".

Friends are leaving, birthdays are occurring, so I've been attending gatherings with what thinly-stretched energy and pieced-together time I have had. Austin is off to Thailand for a month then headed home, Neal is gone and back in Canada. LeAnn extended her stay 1 month and Alex extended hers past mine, and Karen will still be local so I'll still have some smiles left to enjoy. I've been missing all sorts of weddings back in the states so it makes me feel a bit wonky. Miss you all.

I miss home. I don't believe I've ever felt homesickness until I came here. It really does ring true for "home is where the heart is" because my heart has already been given over to my family and friends that I love so very dearly. It will be good to be back home where I won't feel so emotionally starved. It's rough being alone in a foreign country, so I advise all those that are able and willing to give it a try...just don't expect it to be all daisies and sunshine. SK2K9 has really shown me that though I am an ambitious, assertive, stubborn, creative, and experience-hungry person, I really do have my limitations when it comes to fam and friends. I love them so very much! So, when my contract is up here I will be ready to head back home and pick up life back home by the reins. It will certainly be rough with the economy, job search, and trying to rekindle some friendships that may have dwindled a bit since I've been gone and out of touch for so long, but I'm up for the challenge!

I have not finished editing my China pictures due to the all-encompassing intensives but will leave some Shanghai-teasers on here for you! :)

Big Buddha At A Temple

Outside The Dali Exhibit

Rainy Afternoon In People's Park

Fruit-seller On The Main Strip

2 Wheels Are Better Than 4

Humid July in SK and Malay!

June was....odd.

The hard drive on my computer died so...had to go through a whole lot of hoopla trying to secure another one from home, getting the computer open, reformatting everything...and a vacation by my parents was stuck in between. So all in all, I was Jesse - computer = month of fastidious novel reading.

It was fixed but the irony of the situation is that I had learned to live without my computer by default, so I continued the fast for the most part, aside from talking to my parents and Patrick on it.

July came and it was time for the long awaited vacation with Patrick! Long story short, Bali had to be replaced about a week before departure, so we settled on a little town called Port Dickson in Malaysia. It was about an hour outside of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia and I enjoyed it. Bali had gotten to be too much of a hassle anyway and then the terrorist attacks against Americans in Jakarta made me quite happy to have visited Malaysia instead!

It was a wonderful vacation, so very relaxing, beautiful, and full of unique experiences, large and small.

I will edit this post and add in some pictures once I get them all edited. :)

The 4th of July was the least-celebrated 4th I've ever had. Next year I'm celebrating double. Actually, I'll be celebrating all holidays super-strength-style next year, you better believe it!

2 girlfriends and I are going to Shanghai, China this upcoming weekend. Surprise! It was a bit impromptu since we have a 5 day weekend and this will be the only time we can travel together. Alex and LeAnn found some tickets pretty cheap over the weekend while I was gone, and I bought my ticket on Thursday evening. We just booked a hostel this afternoon in a central location so I'm getting really excited! It is called Mingtown People's Square Youth Hostel, great location but not so great aircon, so it should be an adventure. :) We leave on Friday the 31st, so this definitely is my month of traveling, eh? That's part of the reason why I came to SK in the first place though, so I'm doing it!

I'll update more when I get some time...it's already intensives again, auughh. Tired Jesse. >.< BUT I'm doing it, I'm making it through and I have less than 3.5 months until I head back home and start the job search cycle, learning curve, and reestablish friendships and social circles yet again!