Well, it’s January 7th, my last full day here in
Nanjing where I’ve been for the last 4 months or so. It’s been lots of fun, but I am ready to move
on…that is, after a fanTAstic vacation in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. Since I no longer have a bicycle, most all of
my in Nanjing travels are on foot. I
love to run, and even with my backpack on, I would rather run than walk, which
is much easier typically when I am by my onezy.
Anyway, so I went to this backpacking/climbing dinner party thing. I got there pretty late, but was still in
time for dinner. It was kinda bizarre,
but a good culture experience nonetheless.
Afterwards, I was going to meet up with some of the BYU Flagship guys
and see them one last time before going off vacationing. Although I had my backpack, I ran the 3K or
whatever it was to Ian’s house and it felt GREAT. But, starting out, I was in a part of town
that I had never been before.
Unfortunately because of light pollution, you can’t see many stars in
Nanjing, sometimes none at all.
Fortunately, the 7th tallest building in the world, (and it’s
the 4th tallest building in Asia I think) is here in Nanjing. It has often acted as my “North-Star” and has
guided me home because I live relatively close to it and can find everything
else I know when I know where I am in relation to this beautiful tall
building.
After saying some goodbye’s or at least for the last time
that we’d hang out, Seth and I started heading back towards our apartments. I convinced Seth to get a foot massage with me
‘cause I had credit still at the place across the way from my apartment. I had
hurt my right Achilles a month or three ago so I told the lady to make sure to
be super gentle on my right ankle ‘cause it would still hurt if there was too
much pressure. She did great. Her friend was there who does acupuncture for
a living and he offered to do acupuncture on me for free. I have ALWAYS wanted to try acupuncture, so
of course I said yes! He pulled out a
new, clean, sterile, unused needle and poked me in my left ankle, towards the
back, above the heel near the Achilles.
Yes, even though it was my right heal that I hurt, he poked my left one
and I said so, just to make sure he knew what he was doing. He laughed and said yes and then continued to
explain why it was so. It made sense at
the time, but I don’t really feel like translating and rethinking the whole
thing, but it kinda made sense. So,
afterwards, he had me stand up and jump and asked me if it was better. Of course I said yes, not that I could really
tell the difference yet, ‘cause I knew I’d have to get outside (it was raining)
and run good and hard on it to find out.
2 days later though, I ran about a 5K and afterwards Seth asked me how
my Achilles was and I realized that for the first time in about 2 or 3 months
my Achilles felt better than ever after running with no pain at all! I’m a believer when it comes to acupuncture and it’s another thing
I can check off on my bucket list.
Here’s my roommate, Hou Sicheng, or his English name that he
picked for himself, Felix, like Felix the Cat. He’s almost as tall as I am. He’s been a great roommate and him and his
parents and grandma have been super nice to me.
I will miss them a lot.
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