nothing but the Mao's baby!

ok folks.. quick update, as i am sure some of you may have thought i had committed the mass murder i intended from my last post but all of the world can rest easy- i got my money.
*praise baby jehovah*
now, on to planning a awesome trip around china in less than 48hrs. my flight to shanghai is booked...but where i am going to stay. packing. and all other responsible things like that are TBD. how the hell imma pull this off remains to be seen but the motto me and my best friends (who are MUCH better than yours btw) subscribe to has been: make it work for the past 20+ years of our lives. when life give you lemons- sell them to someone else for train fare and a meal. i am going to be using the gods of google to help me figure out the where, what and how of the next 20 days. and to think, i came to china to STOP stressing. ha.

this is how i feel right now

I AM GOING NUTS. Seriously, did everyone in this city have a Town Hall meeting about my ass and I just didn't get the invite? Did I fart in a really crowded elevator and everyone knows but me? Did I sleep with the president's wife by accident after one of my drunken binges? Did I wear white after Labor Day? Someone PLEASE tell me what I did to deserve the massive ass kicking I am getting now. I'll pay you! I'll pay you on... Oh wait... that is right-I CAN'T PAY YOU BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T PAID ME YET. and I still have not booked my trip around China
They did however, bring me 2 big ass boxes of apples for "Chinese New Year" WHAT THE FUCK CAN I DO WITH APPLES?! 2 boxes of Apple iPhones..I can deal with but some dingy ass red apples?!...I gave them a look so horrid they left the door open on their way out.
I am going to end up on CNN for a massive killing spree if something doesn't change soon. (for those of you who are sensitive about that comment- press the little X on the top right hand side of the screen) I realize the above statement is harsh, but this is my blog, my outlet, my Oprah, Dr. Phil and Jenny Jones and I say what I feel. I am not the president of the "feelings" club. Normally, I am a sweetheart but the combination of bullshit, and hormones from my monthly menstrual friend I call "the demon from the 7th level of Hell" has me feeling a rage that can only be described as... well fuck IDK but I do know that something has got to happen before I end up on the news!

Tonight is rough. Tomorrow should be better. I am going to follow the instructions to my left and bang my head against a wall until I pass out. (and eat some apples) Good night.

it's my anniversary!

today is my 2 month anniversary in China... a emotional day for me and i'm not going to write a lot because i still have MAJOR trip planning to do (see the post below) but i still want to give thanks for being able to take this once in a lifetime opportunity and go to a place i never thought i could.

sometimes you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone to see what you are really made of. i am very far out of my zone but i have faith that when this is over, life will be much more than what it was before. when i was at my previous job (which shall never be named) i let things happen to me...now, i am making things happen.

thanks for all the love, prayers n support to those who actually read this blog! and for those who just stopped by once or twice.. thank you too (every page view counts)

single...party of one (a rant)

ok so i started this blog to detail my journey and my experiences while in China. overall, i am a very private person and i have trouble speaking about personal things unless i have formed a really good friendship with you. this blog is about China stuff not Darcy stuff (if that makes sense) anywho... 

that being said...this post will be a rant. a fucking rant. a rant about China and Darcy stuff- because right now i am hurt and frustrated and the only person available to listen to me, is my trusty laptop Jose (yes i name my appliances...so what lol) anyway, i am mad- Chinese New Year is coming up in 2 weeks. it is the most important and busiest time in China. everyone and their grandma is going to be travelling and getting crunk for the holiday...where am i amongst this crunknest?! well see that is the problem- i don't know! 

i am adventurous, obviously,  i had little to no problem picking up my life and travelling around the world for almost a year, so spending a month exploring the country i chose to come to is not a problem. what is a problem is the lack of guidance and support i am getting from everyone around me. let me start off by saying this: i am not a baby- i didn't come to China to have someone hold my hand and wipe my nose. i know that i have to depend on myself to get shit done BUT, i at least expect support from those who are hired to look after me...like seriously -_- 

problem one- where the hell am i gonna spend Chinese New Year?! 

the entire population is moving and i feel like i have fallen and can't get up... i want to go all over but i realize trains, buses, planes and the like are going to be crowed, expensive and overall a tough experience. i get that- but all i am asking is for my coordinator to spend less time kissing her BF and more time listening to my questions. i am not asking for you to loan me money woman! i am asking for her to give me a city she things is worthy to be visited and a general overview on how to get there. 

problem two- time is NOT on my side. 

i had been told about Chinese New Year affects my stay on my campus earlier, i would have planned beforehand. now, i am on blogs, websites, personal ads like a mad woman searching for things to do and how to guides so that i don't end up laying in my own self pity for a month. keep in mind that this is freaking CHINA most of my problems come from the language barrier and the lack of resources on my behalf to book a lot of these things on my own (hotel, flight, train tickets)

problem three- the loneliness. so... i'll admit it is incredibly lonely to be so far away from everything you know and love. don't get me wrong... i enjoy my own company. i love being by myself most of the time...but not all of the time. travelling around China would be fun if i had another person to share in the excitement and craziness of it all....

sigh, ok.... this rant is done. i'm going to put on my big girl pants and figure out my China travel strategy and when it is all over.. guess who I will thank- the gods of google, my sense of humor, and of course, the bottle of brandy i got from the supermarket- because together us three are going to plan out the best Chinese New Year's trip this side of the pacific ocean...stay tuned! 

food from America will make her dance!

So, my care package came today in the mail (after a good long wait) and I know the Customs Officials had to crack up when they looked in the box because, all I have in there is food that hugs my inner fat kid...yes, it was and is that serious LOL :-)
Cookies, candy, crackers, chips, peanut butter & jelly, chocolate and not to mention all the damn hot cocoa a girl could dream of! You never know how much your favorite snack means to you till you reach for it- and it's not there.
I plan on controlling myself and not eating everything in sight but Lord knows I really wanna do this:

It's about to go down!

It is funny how withdrawal works- you arrive in _____ (insert foreign country) and you have no access to any of the foods you crave. You start to think about it during class or at work, you fume silently when your friends brag about cooking steak dinners or post almost sinfully good photos of chocolate cake and ice cream. You get irritable and you curse...well maybe not you, but me- I curse. Because back home, the only think I had to do was go downstairs or to the store and get whatever I wanted but in the Middle Kingdom- there is only a KFC a bus ride away to soothe my American appetite and the imported goods at the supermarket are SO expensive...I am talking 10 dollars (10 AMERICAN DOLLARS) for a box of cereal...Cereal that may have been sitting on the shelf as long as I have been alive and 20 dollars for coffee. *cries*
So what is a foodie to do?! Simple- I begged my mom for a care package...and thank God I can now indulge in my gluttony until the food runs out...at that time, I will call my dearest friends to send me more food.

What Watching Barack Obama get Sworn In Abroad did for Me

Today Barack Hussein Obama aka "Barry" aka "The Coolest President EVER" got sworn into office a 2nd time. I honestly never thought I'd live to see a African American man (biracial or not) get sworn into the Oval Office in my lifetime.
My children's, but mine? No...but on November 4, 2008 something happened. History was made and we were happy. So happy in fact, that we had his face on every t-shirt, mug, flyer, even on church fans. The first family was OUR family and we looked forward to 4 years of his motto: Change.
Welp, after the honeymoon was over and the real work began we saw that this presidency was not your average one. It was filled with natural disasters, economic uncertainty  and most of all- a underlying hate that can only be described as vengeful racism. I am not playing the "race card" In fact, I don't even carry that card in my pocket because it becomes a crutch to use too often when bad decisions catch up to us.
But 2008-2012 was filled with racism. Blatant disrespect for our Commander In Chief was the norm. Media outlets like Fox and Rush Limbaugh's radio show lead the charge in calling our President..OUR President a failure.

Once the election season started, it was an all out war. The gloves came off and each debate was like watching a boxing match. Each opponent bobbing and weaving their way out of the line of fire. National polls across the country depicted Mitt Romney the winner, they yelled that -the economy was awry- job numbers were down. They failed to mention the passing of the most important healthcare legislation to hit the US since Franklin D Roosevelt signed in the "New Deal" during the Great Depression. They failed to mention how the Lilly Ledbetter act signed in a the equal pay for equal for equal work. They failed to mention the repealing of DADT a national ban on openly LGBTQ military serving our country and putting their lives on the line for our freedom and safety. They openly questioned, perhaps Barack's largest weapon- the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Bringing to end a very painful memory we all felt on 9/11. It seemed like Barack's "Change" motto was a one term possibility...but then, on November 6, 2012 as the Electoral College numbers came in- and the world literally held it's breath (I know I did) - Barack Obama won a 2nd term as the President of the United States of America *Hits Dougie* I cried, I screamed, I thank God and I saw that we did it!
                                                                      This was me

gif courtesy of  http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com 

We knew this road was not easy, and some of the decision's he made may have not been one's I personally agree with. In fact, I criticize him often, but unlike the GOP and their constituents, I saw that he was trying- and his policy (there is more than enough for all of us) spoke louder and more firmly to me than one of a party whose policies and comments left me feeling like unless my income exceeded 6 figures, I like, 47% of America- was unimportant. As I watched the Inauguration from my laptop, dressed in pajamas and alone in a country where 1.3 billion people live in a Communist society I felt so thankful and proud. I walked the campus with a smile because no matter where I was on earth-I can gladly say I am American. History had been repeated!  MLK, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and countless others whose name we will never know- smiled down on us and I felt like My President, Our President had given me hope that no matter where you're from, who you love, or what you believe in, change is possible-change is good and change is happening NOW. Congratulations Mr. President!

Look at Michelle's Coat- TOO Fly

merry christmas, happy new year

so today i am writing.... i am forcing myself to type words on a page and be dedicated to this.
i want to share my experiences but i have always been a very private person (go figure)
it's 2013 and i am going to commit to writing one post a week min.

so...how did i celebrate my christmas? good question, because christmas here is very different than the one i have come to know in america. here it's another day. i worked and got beautifully wrapped fruit gifts from my kids. and, just when I had resigned my self to a night of netflix and oreos...my foreign relations coordinator and boss invited me to dinner. at dinner, i got my 1st paycheck :-D and won a beautiful porcelain tea set see below:

pretty awesome and i can't wait to take it back to the us and have  a real fancy tea party lol.

NYE was an adventure...again with no definite plans and a last minute invite to shanghai (like 8hrs) i was determined to find someplace great to ring in 2013 and another opportunity to live out my dream. that is where the gods of google became my personal outlet and i combed through blogs, websites and personal ads until i stumbled upon a hidden gem: hudson's bar in rizhao china. the bar had PIZZA...after a month of eating nothing i really could identify or pronunce..pizza sounded like a utopia of goodness and dammit- i had my coordinator Frances write down the address for me in chinese and took a taxi there. armed with street smarts and 300RMB i made my way across town and into my now go to spot (i don't give a damn how expensive it is)
hudson's was quiet. a little old man sat in the corner smoking a pipe..i would discover later that is john, the owner. he is in his 60's married to a little chinese lady and from australia..- in china you can smoke anywhere. i mean grocery stores, funerals, gas stations.. ok, maybe not the gas station but you get my point. i made my way to a table in the back and ordered a margarita- YES a jose cuvero margarita. just when i thought that margarita would be the extend of my night- in walks 7 foreigners and they were speaking...ENGLISH. praise the lord. i smiled..they smiled and before you know it- shots were being taken and pictures snapped. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..happy freaking new year. i met 2 great girls i hope to hang out with in the near future.

up next.... learning how to use my chinese cooktop to make a semi american meal. stay tuned!