200

This is post number 200! I started this blog in 2009, when I went back packing across Europe by myself. Back then, the idea had been to keep a blog so that my family would know what I was doing, since I would be moving around quite a bit, and it may be more of a hassle to find international phone booths to call home. I said then that I would write every day while traveling, so they would know that I was safe. It has been six years since I started this blog, and in it I have recorded activities in five continents and about 25 countries. Surprisingly, I have been pretty good about keeping my commitment to writing (almost) every day while traveling, and randomly while not traveling. 

I returned home to San Francisco, and now am on the way to Boston, where I grew up. Home is always where your family is, but Boston is always my home town. I'll be attending the wedding of an elementary school friend in Boston, and going wedding dress shopping with a high school friend too. 

I got to spend about four days with my family. I talked a lot about blue sky in China, that I feel like I should say something about the blue sky in California. It's always there. So much that it's easy to take it for granted. Southern China had blue skies, but not like San Francisco--such a deep blue that it almost looked fake to me, after seeing the sky in China for the last month or so. I took a drive to Vacaville, since my mom had a conference there. She was anxious about leaving the house. "Don't forget to feed the fish!!" She said, several times. When she arrived at her hotel, yet again, she said, "don't forget to feed the fish!!"

"Why is mom so paranoid about the fish?" I had asked. We have lots of pets at home, and they are all quite fat so lack of food is never an issue for our animals.

As it turned out, on Thursday morning, the third day after she had left, my dad asked me, "did you feed the fish?"

"Of course not," I replied. "I don't live here, and I don't know where the fish food is, why would I feed the fish?"

My brother earlier had shrugged and said, "fish don't need to eat every day, they can go a week without food," so he definitely didn't feed the fish either. 

My dad hurried quickly to feed them. Our animals, in their old age, now have quite a bit of daily needs. Our house is guarded by a blind dog and a deaf dog, so between the two of them, at least there is one working set of eyes and one working set of ears. The blind dog also is diabetic and needs daily insulin medication and eye medication. The deaf dog now barks extra loudly because she can't hear herself barking very well. She is not completely deaf, but cannot hear many things unless you say it loudly. She gets sad and jealous when the other dog gets his medicine, so my dad has to pretend to give her medicine too so she won't feel left out. 

Noting the difference between Delta and Air China's safety videos. Air China uses a panda, while Delta uses a pirate, a cowboy, and a ventriloquist. 

In Detroit, I heard a dad arguing with his son, who must be 2 or so. The son wanted to pass the food court and said, "I'm not hungry!"

The dad said, "but I'm hungry. What are we going to do about that?"

The kid said, "okay you can be hungry but I'm not hungry," and proceeded to run away. 

I think it's funny when parents try to reason and use logic with small children, who at their core are not very logical.