A Return to Poetry

After my holiday hiatus from writing, I am finally ready to come back to the blog and back to poetry. It was the feeling of being too overwhelmed with Christmas bustle and so many events within the past week.

The first three days were designated Christmas shopping days. We stopped at silk and clothing markets and I eventually made the rounds in my new neighborhood in Beijing.

A new discovery: the Bookworm café. It will undoubtedly be my new hangout for the next six months. It is a combination café/bookstore/library. Membership is cheap, the atmosphere is cozy, and the coffee is strong. The first book I checked out was Marquez’s Memories of My Melancholy Whores.

Christmas Eve consisted of baking cookies and pie. Afterward, we all went to the Kro’s Nest for pizza and beer. I had a pint too many and the next morning, halfway through opening presents, I slipped into the bathroom for an hour-long spell of sickness. After a half-hour lie down, my episode was over. The rest of the day I was in the kitchen with my aunt, preparing a holiday feast for ten people.

My favorite Christmas presents included two woolen pleated skirts and a grey woolen poncho. Perfect for the cold Beijing weather. The winds have picked up, coming down from the Gobi Desert, and I feel like I’m back in Wyoming.

Boxing Day was as lazy as I could get. I never changed out of my pajamas and never bothered to shower. I sat on the couch with Little Women and leftover apple pie. Today was more of the same.

Tomorrow, however, it is back to work, so to speak. The job hunt continues. Down the road, within walking distance, is a middle/high school that might be looking for new teachers. A friend of mine teaches science at the school and said he would set up a meeting for me. Prospects are promising.

If that works out, I’ll devote the rest of the day to poetry. I’m looking forward to working the words again. I still have a few more errands to run over the next few weeks – getting gym membership and buying a two-day train ticket out of the country to renew my visa – but in the meantime it all feels like a vacation.