Friday, October 31, 2014

Blogdentity Crisis




Happy Halloween to all!

I hope you have a fun evening planned, whether that includes dressing up and dancing to the wee hours of the morning, or eating a bowl of candy at home and watching Hocus Pocus (oh you know everyone does it). Hubby and I are headed to the Florida Keys for the weekend with some friends. Should be a lovely getaway. :)

I know it's been quiet around here for a while and I've struggled to comprehend or explain why. But I read this blog post today and realized that it pretty much sums up the silence. Every word (except the part about being a Chinese supermodel; that, I am not). You can click the link and read the post below. It's that good that I had to re-post it.

Just replace "China" with "South Africa".

Have a wonderful weekend! xo.




By Jerry Jones:

They say that blogs resemble their owners.
They don’t actually say that.  They do say that about dogs.  They should say it about blogs too.
Blogging for me has been a thoroughly enjoyable stress release in the chaos of my daily bumblings as a foreigner in China.  It has forced me to process, more completely, what I actually think and feel in the context of a constant flow of phenomenal experiences such as having my bowel issues publicly assessed by an entire community of well meaning, amateur Chinese medical experts or coming home with 28 enormous hickeys on my back.
It’s therapeutic really.
Beyond that . . . it’s me.  Through this goofy little blog I have discovered something about myself that I didn’t realize before.
I love writing.
I wish I was a painter . . . that would be so much cooler.  Or a musician.  Maybe a drummer.  Famous rock star with tattoos.
But I’m not . . .  and chances are, at this stage, short of a lobotomy and a dramatic shift in popular culture that’s not going to happen.
But I do love to write.
Writing has become a part of my identity.  I even say so up there at the top of this blog . . . And I quote:
“I’m a husband, a dad, a trainer, a writer, an expat, a foreigner, a Chinese faker and a culture vulture who loves having a front row seat to watch the world turn.”
Here’s the kick in the pants — My blog is having an identity crisis.
Somewhere between my last post (ages ago) about my career as a Chinese supermodel and this post we moved back to America.  Did you catch that?  Even though my so-called blog still says I am . . . I am actually no longer an expat (although I’m feeling very much like a foreigner).  I’m still a dad, still a trainer, definitely still a culture vulture and I still fake Chinese (albeit only in Chinese buffets)
BUT I DON’T LIVE IN CHINA ANYMORE.
That was the whole fun point of The Culture Blend.  Goofy foreigner  . . . China . . . bumbling.  I feel like my blog doesn’t know who it is anymore and you know what they say about blogs.
Or at least they should.
My blog’s identity crisis makes the whole writing thing painfully inconsistent.  It’s confusing, misleading and unclear.
In short, it’s in transition . . . and so am I.
But in the chaos I’m starting to get a clear picture of two simple truths.
1.  Culture keeps on blending no matter where you are which means there is a lot more to write about
and
2.  I still love to write.
So give me some time and I’ll replace the growing number of “used to be true” statements here with the “yet to be seen” facts as I figure them out.  I’ll push through the awkward part and someday soon it will make more sense.  The whole thing will be less utterly lost and more profoundly insightful.
I’m talking about the blog . . . not myself.
But you know what they say about blogs.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Happenings of late (but mostly One Direction)

When did it become October? We are not even in the same season as when hubby and I moved to the US a few months ago. (That's our timeline for everything right now.) And that's nuts.

But we are staying busy while I continue to be on the job hunt and hubby is waiting for all sorts of government paperwork. Here are some photos of all the happenings that have been going on around here...which partly explain my absence.



I took the General Knowledge Exam for the state of Florida so I can be a substitute teacher; it's at least a little bit of income while I'm looking for a full-time job. Yes, I needed to review odds and factorials. No judging please; math has never been my strong suite. :)



 Beautiful sunset over Miami.




 I baked a giant doughnut with doughnut holes for a friends birthday. It was pretty yummy, if I do say so myself.



And I made a pumpkin cake with cream-cheese frosting and walnuts, of course. We needed some fall around these warm parts. And this one was even yummier. 




And we've been to a basketball game.





But the best part...







Husband received the Husband of the Year Award for taking me to the One Direction concert! I can't get over it - I'm still so excited!




We only heard about the concert the day of but got tickets on StubHub for $13! I highly recommend using them. Who cares what the view is like for that price!


Bless his heart...he was genuinely excited for me, but the glass-shattering screaming was just a bit too much (and to be honest, it was for me too - gosh, when did I get that old?). Here's a small sample:



(Still makes me laugh...and remind me of my Nsync days. How embarrassing.)




Thanks mister! I love that you enjoy something just because I enjoy it. :)