made it back.. and it feels so good.

im back!
ive been looking forward to my return to china since the second i landed in the states back in july. preparing this time around was alot different. ive been so busy i havent even really had a chance to feel anything... excitement, anxiety... nothing. maybe i guess its because i know what to expect this time around. but even just days before my departure i felt everyone around me was freaking out for me more than i was. its like this.. cool, calm, and collected feeling. i know what to expect. and im super happy inside. packing was the worst. i just didnt want to do it. if it were up to me.. i would have just taken me, myself, my camera, and my mudtools ribs.. okay and some pin-striping tape. but thats not how things work, and im not rich enough to just buy as i go. so needless to say i wasnt completely packed until an hour before i had to leave for the airport.

made it to detroit metro around 6 yesterday morning, ms allie rumler (another CMU student) met me there. its going to be great having someone from my home studio here with me. we met the majority of the rest of the group in chicago. with a little over an hour till take off we conveniently found a place for me to charge up my phone.. at an airport bar. i bought allie her first legal beer (it being her 21st birthday yesterday) and we chatted with some randoms. looked down at my phone and said... "time to go.. they start boarding in 2 mins... you know they start boarding 25 mins before take off" the man next to us says, "um international they board 45 mins in advance!" OH SH!T... we took off running sure enough everyone was on the plane and they were calling our names over the intercom. leave it to us.

after almost missing our flight from chicago to china, allie and i made it from detroit to shanghai. this time around the group is much larger. 14 students, emily reason (visiting artist), and bob. im still learning everyone's names.

shanghai. everything is familiar and it feels so good. my excitement has finally come to surface, and the smile has not left my face. and i am now extremely giddy and excited to get back to jingdezhen and into the studio... ahhh.. and some faces.. li chao, nick, xio min, laufong, de mamma...

allie and i missed dinner last night, she was sleeping and my phone was an hour off. so we grabbed some noodles for dinner then hit the sheets HARD! and of course woke up really early, which i dont mind.. its a perfect time to get a quick blog post in and some emails out!

meeting for breakfast at 730, then im sure we will be heading to the shanghai mueseum today!

'til next time,
peace and love from china.

Steph