City of Trees and Fresh Air

It has been a long time since I posted and I appreciate those of you out there encouraging me with the “I love your blog…keep blogging” emails.  It took threats from one person from Boise saying that they are bored because they do not have our updates to live vicariously through and know what is going on in Shanghai as well as our coworker who said that this site was going to be removed from his favorites if I didn’t post soon to cause me to take a break from my hellish homework load this week and blog. 

I left for Boise on January 11th with visions of all of the things I was missing about the US and Boise.  I arrived to my dear mother as giddy as can be at the airport asking me where I wanted to go to lunch.  In my jet lagged haze, I had no idea how I was going to have enough energy to keep up with her for the rest of the afternoon.  I slept hardly at all on the plane as I have a hard time sleeping on those flights because of the time they are at (daytime Shanghai-time) and also because I was sitting next to two American-Chinese women who I really enjoyed talking with.  They had a lot to share about Chinese culture and food.  I tried, for the first time these delightful little oranges that you actually eat the skin.

Mom and I went to lunch at Bar Denay, then we headed to her house where she showed me my little apartment in the basement for the two weeks I would be there.  They had recently finished off the bathroom in the basement so she had tons of new things to show me.  I was having a hard time showing the excitement I had a feeling she was expecting me to show (as she showed me things) because I was so exhausted.  Later,  my sister, Anna came to dinner and it felt great to be home (my dad was in Salt Lake City for a business trip.) 

The next morning, I met my friend Lindsay at 5:30am to go running, , but it was something like seven degrees outside so before our lungs could freeze, we turned back and had coffee instead.  Boise was very cold!  And it was great to catch up with Lindsay.

Coming back to Boise, it seemed SO SMALL and bare with so few people, after living in Shanghai.  At first it was shocking, but I quickly got used to it.  It was so great to have an opportunity to see friends and family and be able to be there for people rather than missing out on all of the big moments in people’s lives like we do while we are in China.  It was also nice to get caught up with coworkers and once again feel engaged with what is going on at work.  Working remotely has its advantages, but it is definitely easy to get out of the loop.

I found it amazing the fast pace my life instantly whipped back to once arriving in Boise.  I had made a concentrated effort not to plan too many engagements before I left China, but it still turned out to be crazy busy.  It didn’t help that at work I had so many people to catch up with that it took longer days to get any “real work” done nor did it help that I started two of the three classes I have left towards my MBA while I was there.  So now, my goal between now and moving back to Boise is to figure out how to truly slow things down and not have so many things going on all of the time.  Talking to my friends and family, they will be no help in figuring this out because everyone else is just as busy, if not busier.  What paces we all keep!  After a couple of weeks in Boise, I actually started to look forward to going back to China just to have some time. 

While in Boise, I freeloaded off of friends and family with gym memberships so I tried some of the valleys finest gyms on guest memberships.  I went to the downtown Y a couple of times, Golds on Fairview and Golds on Overland in Meridian.  I am a Y-girl at heart, but the Golds gyms were very nice, especially the new one and it was fun to workout with my dad (and mom one time). 

Thank you to all who had me over or took me to dinner or met me for coffee.  It was so great being able to catch up and I only wish I would have had more time to spend with you and others who I was not able to see.  Andy was only back in Boise for a total of one day before we left for Mexico, so I know that he wishes he could have seen more people while he was back.  (In the middle of the Boise trip, we left for a one week vacation to Mexico, which will be covered in the next blog.)  It was also really great to see my grandparents, however briefly.  Going to the retirement home is always a kick as all of the residents spend much of their meal complaining about the food.  They are all so cute!

It was back to Shanghai on February 1st.  I think I will cover the time since we have been back in a separate post as well.