Letters from a Sojournista: September 2017

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Life with Chinese Characteristics, Chapter 12: Nights in Shenzhen

Shenzhen does not sleep

When the sun goes down

It begins to glow

Neon hues

Into the night

I watch on

Sipping red wine

Savoring rich chocolate

Breathing thick air

As the heavens open up upon the city once more

Unaccustomed Earth

This winter I was reading Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of short stories about Bengali characters transplanted from India onto American soil. Lahiri opens the book with a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne, an author who is infamous in my classroom for writing my students' least favorite book, The Scarlet Letter. "Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth," quotes Lahiri quoting Hawthorne. I don't consider Minnesota worn out soil--there are always fresh faces and new places to explore, and close family and friends are only worn the same way your favorite blues jeans are--but Hawthorne's words ring true. Despite my struggles with change, I find myself restless--craving newness, challenge, culture--seeking a deeper understanding of myself, the world, the Universe. And so soon I embark on a crazy, anxiety-inducing, super exciting trek that will take me from one America to the next. Here is the place where I recount my trials and triumphs. Come along with me...