I just noticed that yesterday the post was titled 911 instead of the date. I’m not quite sure how that happened. It’s certainly an odd coincidence, but it reminds me to ask for help. I’m not going to be able to do this on my own. That’s for sure.

Ok, I’m using a free trial of a VPN again so I’ve got 10 minutes to write this update. Let’s do this!

I felt much better about my decision to leave China. It’s the right thing to do. I need to be living in a place a little calmer and more relaxed, not to mention a city that’s prettier that I feel more of a connection with. Aside from the expensive parts of Asia – namely Hong Kong and Japan, I haven’t felt a spiritual connection to the area. I really want to go back to Istanbul because I felt that spiritual connection when I was there last time. Not to mention how stunningly beautiful and vibrant the city is. I’m pretty determined to make it to Istanbul, but if the protests continue or get worse I’ll most likely decide to go somewhere else. There are lots and lots of places I could go. Istanbul holds a dear place in my heart and I’d love to start there because it’s a place I would like to spend a few months and already have a connection with (versus choosing a city I’ve never visited), but I’ve got some time to think about it. And really, Istanbul isn’t going anywhere so if I go somewhere else for now I can always head back at a later date. I plan to do this traveling/living a bunch of different places for a while. I think it’ll be really neat.

Work was really, really difficult today. I’m having major motivational problems. I taught a class that I really like this evening, but I just couldn’t bring myself to get excited or put forth the effort it deserved. This was really sad. I hope that I’m able to change my attitude soon. I don’t know how I’ll make it through the next couple of months if things don’t improve.

I woke up today feeling really, really fat. And to be honest, after looking in the mirror I came to the conclusion that I also look really, really fat. Damn I’ve gained quite a bit of weight and I feel super uncomfortable with my body right now. I also broke down and ate a shitload of sugar. It’s been slowly creeping back into my diet in the form of juice and not very sweetened cookie things, but today I finally broke down and ate M&Ms, ice cream and a bunch of other junk. It certainly didn’t help the situation. Thankfully I ran up and down the stairs for an hour tonight so I at least got some exercise. I’m hoping to avoid the sugar tomorrow and to also feel better about my weight. I wonder if I didn’t eat something yesterday that’s partly to blame for this major uptick in body image issues I’m experiencing. I know I’ve gained some weight, but it hasn’t been this bad for a while and it seems to have just exploded in the last couple of days. Here’s to hoping tomorrow is a better day with it all! 🙂

Ok, I should get to bed and get this posted. I’ve got less than 2 minutes left to get this update finished. I’ve also got a full day of classes tomorrow. I’m not excited for them, but at least after this weekend I have one more week and then it’s off for a full week. Plus, I get to see my parents. I’m super excited about that! It’s going to be amazing. I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year since I saw them. I’m planning to tell them I’m leaving Ningbo sometime this weekend. I figure I should break it to them before they get here.