武昌 and 恩施

It's strange to me that some people were made to stay at home and some were made to wander. I'm without a doubt happier when I am traveling. Something about new people, new scenes, new places gets my blood flowing. I have a need to keep moving like some people have a need to have a family and settle down. I wonder why I am different. What is it about me that causes me to leave?

There are two types of travelers. Some people start off in the general direction of their destination and enjoy figuring things out along the way, getting a kick out of problems and obstacles. The other type wants to know every road change, when and where they will stop, and every turn. It drives them crazy to have an unknown in the schedule. I am without a doubt the first type. I feel stifled when I know exactly what I am doing ahead of time. Like there is no room for excitement, no room for adventure. The more surprises, the more fun!

I just got back from two consecutive trips, both wonderful, and both completely different. Frist I went to Wuhan with Brad and Amy and had an absolutely killer time. We were going non-stop and laughing about everything. It was a pretty much perfect trip. I may be morally opposed to Starbucks but that doesn't mean I'm strong. I went three times, and just sat for hours talking to my amazing friends. We even met a guy there, who is riding his bike around the world! I hope I'm as cool as him when I'm old. We also went lazer-tagging. All in all it would be hard to improve that weekend.

The next morning I got on a bus at 7am to Enshi to visit some of my favorite people in the world. People kept telling me to fly or to take the overnight bus so I could wake up and be there, but I am so indredibly glad I took the day bus. If China were cleaner it could be the most beautiful country in the world. Looking out the window just made me more in love with the one who made it all. My breath is taken away every time we round a corner. This trip was a lot more relaxed, partly because I was the only one going, and I never plan things to do in advance. We did an awful lot of just sitting around, either talking or reading together. It was every bit as wonderful in a totally different way. Jess let me borrow so many books, which just makes my heart happy. We had some of the best conversations I can remember having, and just encouraged each other. I could give a lot more details if anyone asks, but my fingers hurt right now so I'm going to just leave you with the cliff-notes version.

While Nate and Jess were walking me to the bus station, we ran into a girl they knew, who speaks English, and we got to talking and found out that she was on the same bus as me, going to Yichang. When we got on the bus we realized our seats were right next to each other! Tell me that was an accident... So we spent 10 hours trying to sleep but getting to talk quite a bit, and I found out that she was planning to spend from 6:30am to 1pm at the bus station waiting on her train. I refuse to let that happen, so she came home with me and got to shower, and eat, and take a nice long nap. I had to go get my residence permit and my schedule, so I feel bad because I kind of left her by herself, but she enjoyed it much more than sitting at the bus station all day half-asleep. I got my teaching schedule today, and I start on Monday, so I can't wait for that! I also met my co-teacher, and we spent a lot of today just hanging out and getting to know each other. I think we are going to be good friends!

Oh and in other news my shower broke today, so I hope Jian gets that fixed soon or he's going to have a stinky teacher to deal with and no one wants that.


"I sometimes look into the endless heavens, the cosmos of which we can't find the edge, and ask [Him] what it means. Did you really do all of this to dazzle us? Do you really keep it shifting, rolling round the pinions to stave off boredom? ...forbid Your glory would be our distraction. And ...forbid we would ignore Your glory."
-Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts
A book which I realize I already quoted, but is a must-have on every road trip, long or short. And rest assured I will be quoting it again.