I'm back in China after spending the fall back in the United States. My brother got married in October, so I visited Michigan, in addition to New York, San Antonio, DC and Boston. The trip kind of kept on getting longer and I don't regret one day that I stayed. I got to be at Mike and Emily's wedding. Mike is the first (and I'm guessing only, but you never know) one of us to marry someone who he's known since he was a kid, and Emily's brother is actually an old friend of mine. I also met my two new nieces for the first time. Gabi (above) and Veronica (below) are both about one year old and just as cute and brilliant and awesome as all my parents' other grandchildren. Another highlight of the trip to Ann Arbor was seeing my new Mom. She's the same wonderful woman she's always been, but she's been working out and eating really healthy for a couple of years now and she looks and feels great. She'll be embarrassed that I'm writing about this, but I am so proud of what she's done and how she's done it--by adopting and keeping healthy habits.
I spent most of the rest of my time in New York. I played a lot of water polo, and it felt great to be back in the water with my teammates, who are like a second family to me. I got to celebrate Halloween with them, too (it's kind of like our Christmas). And I did stupid things like celebrate Halloween again a week later, in full costume with a few spontaneous friends. I watched the election returns come in at WXOU, along with a friend with whom I'd spent lots of late nights in China chatting online about politics. We found an after party once the results were in, and stayed out dancing until 3:00 a.m. I was so glad to share this historic moment with a dear friend who wanted to see it just as badly as I did. I also enjoyed the American sports world--spending a few Saturday afternoons and Monday nights on the couch watching football, going to the Michigan-UCLA game at the Garden, and seeing a handful of boxing matches.
Yeah, I got a lot of living in during my fall in New York. I even fell in love--with the sandwich roll at Nagoya Sushi in Long Beach. Thanks for that, Sarah, and thanks for giving me a comfortable temporary home. Thanks to everyone who made time for me during my visit. I felt so loved. I am happy to be back in China, but you all reminded me just how much I am giving up to be here.
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